The lost and the tortured
by leytonxskatexdelena
Summary: "It's not pity, Damon. I just… I know what its like to lose somebody you love." He looked at her and realised what she had realised just a few moments before; they were both tortured, lonely souls.
1. Where no one knows my name

**Authors Note: Ok, this is my first fanfic ever so I'm quite nervous about it. It takes place after Damon kills Lexi in episode 1x08 in The Vampire Diaries. Peyton moves to Mystic Falls after she tells Brooke that she is in love with Lucas in Season 3 (but there isn't a Naley wedding). **

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or The Vampire Diaries or any of the characters in either show. I also do not own the song Boston by Augustana, from which the chapter title is taken from a lyric in the song.**

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Damon was bored. Damon Salvatore didn't do _bored. _Stefan was still not talking to him since the night he confronted Damon about killing Lexi. But there was something else as well. An emotion he hadn't experienced for almost 150 years; the night Katherine died. If he wasn't mistaken it felt a lot like guilt. Deciding he couldn't stay in the house anymore, he grabbed his jacket while mentally deciding which bar he would hit first tonight.

When Peyton called her father saying she needed to leave Tree Hill for a while, his mind went into overdrive thinking about what had happened. Peyton was not the kind of person that ran from anything. _Are you okay? Did something happen between you and Brooke? What about Lucas. Was he the cause of this sudden desire to leave? _Truthfully, Peyton didn't know the main reason for her desire to leave Tree Hill. She grew up in this town; it was where she had her first kiss, her first love. But for as many good memories that Peyton had in Tree Hill, there were equally as many bad memories. This is where she lost her two mothers, her best friend and, she was slowly beginning to realize, herself. With a newfound resolution she posted the letters, the first addressed to Lucas and the second to Nathan and Haley's house and, packed her bags, jumped into the Comet and drove.

She had finally passed the signpost labelled "Mystic Falls" and drove slowly through the town, trying to find the address of the apartment her father had rented out for her indefinite stay. She instead managed to find a bar and considered her options. She could spend her first night unpacking her bags of clothes and belongings or spend the night having a couple of drinks to try to calm the nerves accompanying her decision of moving into a new town, starting a new school and making new friends all over again. With that she parked her car, leaving the keys in the ignition, and headed into the bar.

As Damon walked into the smoky bar, he looked around before his eyes settled on the girl sitting alone at the counter. She was wearing a black mini-skirt and simple white tank-top. _Maybe this night wouldn't be so boring after all_, he thought to himself before moving over to the bar, occupying the seat next to hers and ordering himself a drink. For the first time he looked at her properly; she had legs that seemed to go on forever, wild blonde curly hair and stunning emerald green eyes. She was beautiful, undeniably, but there was something else about her. He felt drawn to her.

Deciding he was done just staring, he introduced himself. "I'm Damon. Damon Salvatore". She took one long look at him before going to back to drinking. "I said…" Damon started again.

"I heard. I'm not interested." She replied. She had already decided that she was not going to get involved with anyone, especially not someone as good looking as this guy. Hot guys, experience taught her, were not the nice guys.

_Well, this girl is going to be fun. _"I don't think you understand. You are interested." He started again, determined not to give up. "Me, I'm a catch. I guarantee that I'm going to be taking you home tonight".

"Excuse me?" she replied, shocked by his cocky attitude. And she thought that Nathan used to be arrogant…

"I mean come on, I'm hot and funny." He then gave his signature Damon smirk.

"You are not as funny as you think you are, Damon Salvatore". Peyton replied, looking into his eyes. This was when the alarm bells started ringing for her. He had the most mesmerizingly blue eyes she had ever seen, and Peyton was all too aware of the last blue-eyed guy that she had fallen for. _Walk away, Peyton_, she thought to herself.

Damon laughed at her slip-up. "Ah, so you do think that I'm hot?"

She laughed in spite of herself, he definitely was good. "Oh, you were being serious, see I thought that was the joke." She smirked at him, raising her eyebrows waiting for his reply.

He grinned, holding her gaze for what she felt was forever, before turning to the bartender ordering them both a drink. "So are you new in town, Kate?" he asked, handing this mysterious, extremely intriguing girl her drink.

"I just got here today. And it's not Kate." She said, turning to face him subtly; of course she was interested in him, but she wasn't about to let him know that.

"Do you have any family here…Kendra?"

"No and not even close, Damon Salvatore." She paused, before continuing. "I moved here from this small town in North Carolina, called Tree Hill. My dad recommended I move to Mystic Falls, because he used to live here when he was a kid and so he rented an apartment for me and I enrolled at Mystic Falls High School and start on Monday".

"Well, I'm sure that you will have a very good time here." He smiled at her and she had to admit that he was even more attractive than she first thought.

Several hours later, and Damon learned about her family, interests, her quirky albeit freakishly close-knit town and still he was no closer to a name.

"Can I ask you a question Damon Salvatore?"

He also noticed that every now and then she would address him using his full name, as if to boast at her knowing _his _name, and he had to admit it was working. He had never met someone who so persistently rejected his flirty attempts and he had definitely never worked so hard to find out a girls name. Most times they were practically begging him to take them back to their place. This girl was refreshing.

"Go ahead, Kaitlin"

"Who was she?" Upon seeing his face full of confusion, she elaborated. "So far every time that you have guessed my name, you've guessed names that begin with K; Kaitlin, Kiki, Kylie and my personal favourite Kristin… So I was just wondering who she was." Now he was averting her eyes, which means that she definitely must have hit a nerve. "I have to say I have heard a _lot _of names that start with K, and the only obvious one that you haven't said yet is Katherine." She finished, looking up at him, questioningly. At this, he looked up at her, giving her one of the most intense stares she had ever seen. For a second, she almost felt like she had crossed a line, until Damon began to grin again. "Observant."

"Did you love her?" She asked intrigued by the suddenly more withdrawn Damon she was witnessing tonight.

"Yes". He was almost regretting coming out tonight. He did not want to be reminded of Katherine. Not tonight, not any night.

"What happened?" Peyton asked, hoping not to be probing too far.

"She died. In a fire, it was all very dramatic".

"I'm sorry, Damon" She replied.

"I don't need your pity" he said looking at her with tortured eyes that she knew all too well.

"It's not pity, Damon. I just… I know what its like to lose somebody you love." He looked at her and realised what she had realised just a few moments before; they were both tortured, lonely souls. Looking into her eyes, he realized that he had had enough of the flirty banter; the only thing that was on his mind was kissing her. His eyes lingered on her eyes before moving to her lips and then back to her eyes. Before he could do anything else, she broke their gaze looked at her watch.

"It's almost 2am… It's late. I should get going" She whispered, still unable to get his eyes out of her mind, even as she was finishing her drink and getting up from her seat to leave.

"Wait, let me drop you off." He said grabbing her arm, whilst both of them tried to ignore the sparks that were ignited from skin to skin contact. "Look, you still haven't found your apartment and like you said it's late, I can help you. I can help you with your bags and then I'll leave…Scouts Honour" He finished, grinning at her. She smiled at him, replying "You were never a Scout. They definitely wouldn't suit you".

"And Kristin doesn't suit you". She smiled, and nodded permission. Ok, so she was inviting him back, but she definitely was not going to invite him in…

Once they arrived at her apartment and Damon had finished unloading her bags from the car, she opened the door and stepped inside, carelessly shoving the bags on the sofa. _Hello new home, _she thought to herself.

She turned to find Damon waiting outside her door, leaning against the door frame of the apartment opposite to hers.

"Do you want to come in?" She asked looking up at him, expectantly.

He grinned, and began to follow her, thinking how this had actually been a little _too _easy. So much for the thrill of the chase, he thought to himself.

"What are you doing?" Peyton asked, slightly taken aback.

Damon was thoroughly confused; maybe this girl wasn't as mentally sane as he had naturally assumed. "You said…" He began.

"I asked you if you wanted to come in, I didn't say that you could…" She said, grinning at him in a way that he could only describe as hot and equally irritating.

Damon smirked, completely impressed by her. He turned to leave, deciding that maybe this whole pursuit thing wasn't for him.

"It's Peyton." He turned to look at her. "My name…Peyton Sawyer."

"Peyton", he said more to himself than her, "I would never have guessed that."

"You know, just because you know my name, it doesn't mean that anything else is going to happen between us" she said, hoping that she sounded surer than she felt about what she had just said.

"Sweetheart, I told you I would be taking you home tonight. Trust me when I say, there is a lot more that's going to be happening between us".

She laughed. "Unbelievable! You spent the entire night trying to find out my name, and then when I tell you, you decide that I'm sweetheart?"

He smiled at her and took one last long look into her eyes. "Good night, Peyton Sawyer."

"Good night Damon." She smiled and closed the door on him and spent the rest of the night trying to get his eyes out of her mind.

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Okay, so that was the first chapter. In the next chapters I will be introducing more characters. Please review if you would like to give me any feedback or if you have any questions about the story so far. xx


	2. It isn't your sweet conversation

**Authors Note: OK, I apologize for the delay in me putting up this new chapter, but it's extra long-if that helps. Thank you to everyone that read my first chapter and especially to those that reviewed**. **The title of this chapter comes from the song "Nearness of you" by Norah Jones. I hope you enjoy...**

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Stefan woke up to find his brother reading one of his diaries dated sometime in the 1960's. Groaning, he cursed himself for not spending the night at Elena's, like he had spent rest of the week, mostly avoiding Damon.

"Good morning, little brother. Did you really used to hang with Audrey Hepburn? I got to say I am a little relieved; in the 80's, I was visiting the house and I saw a copy of Breakfast at Tiffany's and I have to say I was kind of worried that I had a dead, gay, in-the-closet vampire for a brother. Then I'd have to hold some kind of intervention and tell Elena how she's not 'your type'." Damon finished, clearly amused by his latest little speech.

"What do you want, Damon?" Stefan asked, getting up and grabbing the diary from Damon, placing it back in the wardrobe.

"Oh come on Stefan, lighten up. Are you still mad at me about the whole Lexi thing? I mean it's not like anyone died…Well, not anyone living anyway." He corrected himself.

"What do you want Damon?" Stefan repeated with more force this time. He was not in the mood for Damon right now. He had gone to Damon the night Lexi died, telling him he was done with their relationship, but he realised that it was easier said then done. Stefan finally realized that night that Damon held no human characteristics. There was no remorse, no guilt and he hadn't experienced the feeling of love since Katherine. Any part of human in Damon had died the night he turned, and Stefan felt responsible every day since.

"There's this girl. She's starting Mystic Falls today and-". Before Damon could continue Stefan cut him off.

"That's what this is about- a girl? What was it Damon, did you bite her and then forget to get her number or something?" Stefan asked, irritated that Damon even thought he would help him in using some poor girl as a plaything.

"First of all, if you ever think that I need _your _help getting a girl, you are clearly a lot more screwed up then I originally thought. Secondly, I didn't bite her… or compel her for that matter." At Stefan's complete look of surprise, he continued. "I was the perfect gentlemen, Stefan. We talked, laughed; I dropped her off home and then left." He paused before continuing. "Of course, then I did get a little snack on the way home. I have to say though it's not my favourite; A positive definitely does taste good when you haven't had it in a while."

"Does this story have a point, or do you just want to discuss your feeding habits?" Stefan asked impatiently.

"Her name's Peyton. I met her at a bar a couple of days ago-"

"Look, Damon, I'm not going to help you amuse yourself with your latest obsession. I'm late for school." Stefan finished, leaving the room before Damon could say anything else.

Peyton had been waiting in the receptionist's office for what felt like well over half an hour; she had come early to hand in all the paperwork Tree Hill High had faxed over to her and was waiting for her new 'chaperone' to show her around the school. Fed up of waiting, Peyton got up to tell the receptionist she was okay with finding her own way around school when a blonde haired girl entered the office.

"I'm sorry Miss Curtis, you said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Caroline, I want you to show our newest student around school; today is her first day. Peyton, this is Caroline. She's extremely friendly and she will make sure you get to all of your classes today."

The two girls smiled at each other in greeting and left the office together.

"So Peyton, where are you from?" Caroline asked in her normal cheery attitude.

"Just a small town not too far from here called Tree Hill." Peyton replied.

"Well you are going to love it here! The shopping mall is amazing, the boys are hot and you will totally make lots of new friends!" Caroline finished.

"I'll keep that in mind…" Peyton laughed, amazed at how much Caroline reminded her of Brooke.

They continued talking about Mystic Falls and school and Peyton almost regretted telling Caroline that she used to be a cheerleader at her old school.

"Oh my god! That's great; we need a new cheerleader and you would be perfect! You are beautiful, have flawless skin and you look like you wouldn't destroy the top of a pyramid. Rehearsals are today after school, but I'm head cheerleader so you don't need to worry you about try-outs or anything."

"I'm not so sure I-" Peyton began.

"Don't be ridiculous, you are going to do this." Caroline cut her off.

Despite her protestations Peyton was pretty sure by the beginning of first period she had more or less offered to help come up with the music to a new routine. She also noticed that she still hadn't really been shown around the school; it was more just a walk through a maze of corridors with Caroline talking about everything and anything imaginable.

The first few lessons had dragged on, though Peyton was extremely glad Caroline was the person that had shown her around school. She felt a lot more confident; like a young child who had just started nursery school and had made her first new friend. Caroline had invited her to have lunch at a local hangout with some of Caroline's friends, to which Peyton happily agreed.

By the time they arrived at the Mystic Bar and Grill, Caroline's friends were already there. Caroline introduced Peyton to Matt, Tyler and Bonnie as they all sat down to order food.

"Elena said her and Stefan are on their way here now." Bonnie announced.

"Well, I might go shoot some pool. Peyton, you want to join me?" Tyler asked, whilst getting up from the table and smiling down at Peyton.

"Umm… I'm okay thanks. I'm kind of terrible at it; I don't want to freak you guys out too much after you just met me." Peyton replied, smiling back at him. "Next time, though?" Peyton asked, to which he nodded back.

Tyler, Matt and Bonnie then headed to the pool table, while Caroline stayed at the table with Peyton, staring at her intently.

"He's recently single, totally hot and obviously into you." Caroline smiled at Peyton, raising her eyebrows. "You know...just in case you're interested."

Peyton smiled at Caroline; she definitely had many Brooke-like qualities. "Thanks Caroline, but I kind of promised myself before I got here that I would not have any boyfriends."

"Why not?" Caroline exclaimed. "You're hot, he's hot- what's the problem?"

"Nothing! It's just my track record with boyfriends isn't exactly what I would call healthy." Peyton attempted to explain to Caroline, whilst still being vague; she was not ready to re-hash the whole saga that was the Brooke-Lucas-Peyton love triangle that had become her life lately.

"Well, you know a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship isn't the only kind that you could have with Tyler." Caroline continued at Peyton's silence. "You see, when a girl likes a boy-"

Peyton began to laugh and playfully hit Caroline. "Ok! Thank you, Caroline! I have had the sex talk already. It was awkward enough the first time; my dad used these Sesame Street puppets and let's just say that I have never been able to look at Elmo quite the same way again!"

"He used puppets?" Caroline laughed incredulously. "Oh my god, that's terrible!" At this point, both Peyton and Caroline were in stitches laughing. "How did he even-"

"Hey Caroline, are we interrupting something?" Peyton looked up and saw a boy and girl, who she assumed to be 'Elena and Stefan'. This was confirmed by Caroline, as she was introducing them.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Peyton said to the pair, still smiling from her conversation with Caroline.

"Hey Elena, I'm just going to check on the food and see what's taking it so long-you want to come with me?" Caroline asked, getting up and literally dragging Elena with her before she could even reply.

"So, Peyton how are you finding your move? I only just moved here not too long ago either, so I know how it feels to be the new person." Stefan said.

"Good. Everyone here is really friendly, which definitely makes it easier." Peyton replied, staring at Stefan. She could have sworn she saw him somewhere before; she just couldn't seem to place him. Stefan was having the same problem; she sounded familiar but he was positive he had never met her.

"So have you met many people here?" Stefan asked, trying to place why he felt like he knew her.

"Not really, just the people that Caroline has introduced me to. I got here on Friday and spent the weekend cooped up in my apartment unpacking. Well, that's not entirely true; I did meet this guy in a bar the night I got here." Peyton said, wondering why Stefan looked as if a light bulb had just gone off in his head.

"A guy in a bar?" He questioned, hoping that there was another new girl called Peyton, starting Mystic Falls High today.

"Yeah… Oh wow, that was not meant to come out as slutty as it sounded." Peyton replied, shocked at how quickly she would be given title of "friendly", given she had only been living in this new town for three full days.

"Do you know his name?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah, it was Damon, Damon Salvatore. Do you know him?" Peyton asked, wondering what this new guy's interest was in the slightly less new guy she had met in the last week.

But before he could respond, Caroline and Elena came back to the table with their drinks. They were closely followed by Tyler, Bonnie, Matt and the rest of their food.

Peyton approximated that another 15 minutes of conversation passed before the dreaded question was asked by Bonnie.

"So why did you move here?"

Peyton hesitated, wondering if she should just lie. She then acknowledged that this wouldn't be the best way to start making new friends and she should try to be as open as possible and tell the truth; the problem was she wasn't quite sure what the truth was.

"I just needed a change; Tree Hill's kind of a crazy place." Well, she wasn't exactly lying, she reasoned with herself.

"Wow, and your parents were okay with that?" Tyler asked, amazed.

"Well, my dad's pretty open with me; he works away from home anyway, so I don't really see him as much as I would like and he knows I'm responsible enough to move here by myself." Peyton replied.

"What about your mom?" Stefan asked, who had remained relatively quiet during the conversation.

_Wow, _Peyton thought to herself, _from one awkward topic of conversation to another. _"She actually died." Peyton said, hoping the pain wasn't too evident in her expression. The 'she' that Peyton was referring to was both of her mom's; but she also figured that explaining the whole 'two mothers' situation to a group of people that she had only known for a day would be too much of an information overload, so she kept it simple.

"I am so sorry." Stefan apologized.

"It's okay; it's not as if you would know." Peyton replied, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. All too aware of the silence that had filled the table, Peyton attempted to lift the mood. "I was actually wondering if you guys could help me. I spoke to my landlord and he said it was fine if I wanted to decorate, so I was thinking of maybe painting my apartment this weekend. I know you guys probably aren't that interested in interior decorating," Peyton continued, talking to the boys, "but I also have a Wii". Peyton finished, secretly hoping they would say yes, so that she didn't have to spend the weekend by herself again.

"That sounds great!" Caroline exclaimed enthusiastically, putting Peyton at ease once again that day. The rest of the group also agreed and by the end of lunch all the fears and nerves Peyton had since arriving in Mystic Falls had gone and she was finally excited about the prospect of the new move.

The rest of the school day was fairly uneventful for Peyton, though she learnt a lot more about her new hometown's history; she had to admit it sounded as full of drama as Tree Hill. The final bell rang and she quickly made her way to the nearest exit; which wasn't too difficult to find considering she just followed the hoard of students all in a rush to be anywhere but in school. Just as she was about to reach her car, she heard her name being called and she turned to see Caroline running after her.

"Peyton! Hey, have you completely forgotten?" Caroline asked, waiting for Peyton to remember.

Suddenly it dawned on Peyton, "Oh my god, I'm sorry. Let me just put my books in my car."

Although she had initially dreaded cheerleading practice, it actually turned out it wasn't too bad. Peyton could never be as overly enthusiastic as Brooke and, it would appear, Caroline were, but it was okay.

At the end of practice Peyton made her way back to her car, after agreeing to meet Caroline in the Mystic Bar and Grill for some drinks later in the evening. Whilst looking through her bag for her car keys, she bumped into somebody, causing the contents of her bag to be scattered throughout the pavement. As she bent down to pick up her things she saw someone else bending down to help her. She looked up to find none other than Stefan staring at her, apologizing to her once again that day.

"No, it's my fault; I wasn't really looking where I was going". Peyton replied smiling at him.

"I didn't introduce myself properly back at lunch. My name is Stefan Salvatore." Stefan said to her, hoping he was doing the right thing, and not making a bad situation worse with what he was about to do. At Peyton's look of surprise, he explained "Damon's my brother."

"Oh, wow! This really is a small town." Peyton said, still shocked at the coincidence of running into two brothers and not even realizing it; befriending one and flirting with the other.

"Look, I don't know what exactly is going on with you and Damon, but whatever he's said to you about who he is, or whoever you think he is, he is not a good person." Stefan continued, "You can't trust him." Stefan said the last phrase with more emphasis.

Peyton was thoroughly confused; despite the fact that she had only met Stefan today, she was also fairly confident that she would never see Damon again. "Look, I only met Damon once and I didn't really bet on seeing him again, let alone having any kind of relationship with him." Peyton replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable with this new line of conversation.

"That doesn't matter; he's taken an interest in you, which is enough for him." Stefan sighed, as his pupils then began to widen, realizing this was the only effective way of ensuring this new girls safety. "You need to stay away from him, okay? Do not talk to him and under no circumstances can you trust anything he says. He's only going to hurt you." Stefan looked into her eyes, hoping his compulsion would remain effective in spite of his slightly weaker diet choice.

Peyton's brows furrowed. "I don't know what's going on between you and your brother, but you have nothing to worry about. I'm not interested in him." OK, so that was a lie, Peyton thought to herself, but she felt the need to reassure Stefan due to his newfound concern in her well-being.

Stefan was completely dumbfounded at the fact his compulsion had no effect on her, until he noticed it lying on her wrist. "That's a nice bracelet-where did you get it?"

"It was a gift from my dad." Peyton replied confused, but simultaneously relived at the change in conversation. "It's getting late and I said I would meet Caroline later on, so I'm going to go. I'll see you later." Peyton said hurriedly.

Peyton got in the car quickly and drove, leaving Stefan kneeling down in the parking lot, still lost in his own train of thought. It wasn't until Peyton had got changed and left to meet Caroline that she realized that she didn't have her phone.

"Damn it!" She cursed aloud in her car. This meant that Stefan must have picked it up, which ultimately meant another conversation with Stefan and judging by her last, she was not looking forward to it. She arrived at the Mystic Bar and Grill and seeing Caroline wasn't already there, she made her way to the bar. She ordered herself a juice, appreciating this bar was a lot stricter on ID than the one that she had met Damon in the night that she arrived.

"Peyton Sawyer." A voice she knew all too well, came from behind her.

She remained where she was sat not even moving her head in recognition, but replied all the same, "Damon Salvatore."

He sat down next to her and she glanced over at him, trying to ignore the voice in her head that was telling her that he was a lot more attractive than she had tried to downplay since their first meeting.

"We really need to stop meeting in bars like this." Damon said, ordering himself a drink with just a nod to the bartender.

"Well then maybe you should stop coming to bars." Peyton replied, missing their banter and realizing that she really shouldn't already be missing their banter.

He laughed. "You're the teenager, I'm the responsible adult-shouldn't I be saying that to you?"

"First of all I doubt there is anything responsible about you. Second of all, I'm meeting somebody here. What's your excuse?" She asked.

"I came to see if you were here, naturally." He said looking her dead in the eyes, whilst grinning. His eyes were challenging her for a comeback, but Peyton just laughed and took a sip from her drink.

"I met your brother today. He is not a fan of you." Peyton said, looking at Damon to see if she could read his reaction.

"You met Stefan?" Damon asked, intrigued about what exactly Stefan had said to Peyton.

"Yeah, I guess your charms and flirty behaviour don't work on everyone, huh?" Peyton asked.

"He's my brother!" Damon exclaimed, "I don't know how they do it in North Carolina, but this is not that kind of town!"

Peyton laughed, before answering the next question Damon was about to ask. "He said that I shouldn't trust you and you're only going to end up hurting me."

"And what do you think?" He asked.

"I think that he's probably right and that I should stay away from you." Peyton said, looking at Damon waiting to see what he would say next.

"Then why are you still talking to me?" he asked, his blue eyes piercing her emerald green eyes.

"You came over to me." Peyton reasoned with both herself and Damon.

"Well, I'm hardly having a one-way conversation here." Damon retorted.

"Do you have a reply to everything, Damon?" Peyton asked, slightly irritated that she was going absolutely nowhere with this back and forth banter.

"I don't know Peyton, do _you_?" He asked, looking at her and smiling.

Ignoring the question, she decided to change the subject "So why doesn't Stefan like you?" she asked, hoping for at least one serious answer.

"See I've always put it down to jealousy." Damon replied, smirking. Upon seeing her less than amused face Damon decided to try again. "Well, we have spent so long despising each other that I don't think I would know how to behave any differently with him."

"Despise-that's kind of a strong word. I guess there really is no love lost between the two of you." She remarked.

Damon looked at Peyton; confused about why he felt the urge to tell her what he was about to say and why he felt the need to justify the loathing he felt towards his brother. "He was in love with Katherine and…I think she, in some twisted way, loved him too."

"Do you hate him because he loved her, or because she loved him back?" Peyton asked, already knowing the answer, because of her own personal experiences when it came to the matter.

He thought for a second, before he replied. "I hate him because she loved him when she was meant to love me." He paused, before continuing. "The night she died I made a promise to myself that my relationship with him was over; but you'll have to ask him when he started to despise me." He said, putting more emphasis on the word despise.

"I'm sorry" Peyton said.

"You've already said that before." Damon replied.

"No, I didn't mean about Katherine", she said, trying to make him understand, "the night she died, you lost two people. And for that, I'm sorry." She finished, biting her bottom lip.

"Are you aware how much time we spend talking about my dead ex and you apologizing about it?" Damon said, attempting to move on to the light banter that their conversation had started at.

"That and your endless flirty little comments. But I promise, from now on, no more Katherine talk and no more apologies from me." Peyton said, smiling up at him.

"Well in that case, how about I get you a real drink." Damon said, looking at her orange juice and then signalling to the bartender for two more drinks.

"If you're trying to get me drunk and take advantage of me, you should understand that didn't work on the first night, it's not going to work now." At this remark, Damon's eyes slowly looked up and down her body, making Peyton feel about as self-conscious as she could ever recall feeling in her life.

"If at first you don't succeed…" Damon began.

"Give up, it's a lost cause." Peyton finished for him, feeling a lot more relaxed than how she felt at the start of the evening.

"Sweetheart, you could never be considered a lost cause."

"Again with the sweetheart!" Peyton exclaimed. "You are aware I have a name, right?" she asked, enjoying the relationship she was developing with her new extremely attractive friend.

"Considering I spent a good six hours guessing, I'm going to say yes…Kristin" He replied, thinking back to their first encounter, recalling her favourite fake name.

"Well maybe if you knew another letter of the alphabet, you might have actually had more luck." Peyton replied in her most sarcastic tone, smirking. Damon laughed back before going deadly silent.

"Can we help you, little brother?" Damon asked, finishing his drink, and helping himself to Peyton's. Peyton turned to see Stefan looking at Damon with a look that told Peyton that their relationship was even worse than she could have imagined.

Stefan then turned to Peyton, "You left this before", he said, handing her phone back to her that had one new message. Checking the phone, she saw it was from Caroline, telling her that she had to take a rain-check and that she would see her at school tomorrow.

Looking up from her phone, Stefan had gone back to staring at Damon, whilst Damon ordered yet another round of drinks. Remembering what she had said to Stefan before, and also realizing that she had left Tree Hill to cut the drama out of her life, she decided that now was probably the time to head back to her apartment.

"Well, I think I'm going to leave now. Thank you for this Stefan." She said, to which he nodded back at her politely.

"You know if you came here to see me, you could have just said." Damon finally spoke.

"What are you talking about?" Peyton asked smiling, relived Damon was saying something at least.

"I'm meeting somebody." Damon quoted what she had said before.

"They cancelled." Peyton explained, even though she recognized that she didn't owe Damon any kind of explanation.

"Of course they did." Damon replied in a tone Peyton recognized as mock agreement.

She was about to reply, when she realized that she said that she was leaving a couple of minutes ago, but had yet to get up from her seat. She smiled at his, she had to admit, very impressive attempt at getting Peyton to stay a little while longer. She also tried to ignore the fact that if Stefan hadn't arrived, she wasn't sure what time she would have left.

"Goodbye Stefan." She smiled at him, before turning to the older Salvatore brother, waiting for him to speak first.

"Goodnight Peyton Sawyer." He smiled at her.

"Goodnight Damon." She replied, smiling back at him before leaving the bar.

"What are you up to, Damon?" Stefan asked, wondering why his brother had taken a sudden liking to Peyton and dreading what torture he had planned for her,

"I'm having a drink- you should have one, you might loosen up a bit." Damon responded, never looking at him.

"That's not what I meant" Stefan replied, taking a seat next to Damon.

"Oh, I know what you meant. Tell me something Stefan, the whole spiel you gave Peyton about how I'm a bad guy- did you really think it would work?" He asked, genuinely interested in if his brother was even more stupid than Damon originally thought.

Stefan considered his response before replying. "Well, she deserves to know what she's getting into." He decided the whole truth about what had happened would be better left unsaid until Stefan found out more about Peyton and her family.

"Well as you can see it worked wonders; I mean she's clearly not interested." Damon remarked, sarcastically. "Tell you what Stefan, how about from now on you stay away from her." Damon said looking Stefan dead in the eyes, with his most threatening glare.

Stefan began to say something but stopped himself, realizing any questions he asked would not be met with a serious answer. Damon took one last gulp of his drink, getting up to leave.

"And now you've ruined my mood. I am not a nice person when I'm not happy." Damon finished, grabbing his jacket and leaving Stefan alone at the bar with his thoughts.

Stefan was scared; not because of what Damon had just said- Damon had been around long enough to know not to do anything stupid that could expose them. No, Stefan was worried for Peyton and what Damon had planned for her. With Caroline, Damon was just interested in the feed- no relationship ever crossed his mind. With Elena, Damon was just trying to provoke a reaction out of Stefan. But with Peyton, it was different. Peyton was the first human, as far as Stefan was aware of, that Damon was fascinated in. Damon's character and his newfound fascination would not mix well, Stefan feared. Upon realizing this, Stefan made a promise to himself that he would protect Peyton; because whatever Damon had planned next, it would not be good for her…

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**Well, what do you think? I'm hoping you enjoyed it! The bracelet Peyton was wearing is the one from the motel scene in season one with Lucas. I know the Damon/Peyton interaction wasn't too long, but I thought I should introduce the other main characters in the story. In the next chapter there will be a lot more Damon/Peyton. OK, so I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review to let me know your thoughts.**


	3. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one

**Authors Note: Enjoy! The chapter is named after the song "The Thing about love" by Alicia Keys, which I do not own.**

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"So let me get this straight, you don't know how long you're going to be staying here?" Caroline asked.

"No", Peyton responded, while removing the packaging from the shelves that she and Caroline had brought to be assembled in her bedroom.

"And you won't tell me why you left your Tree Mount town either?" Caroline asked, sitting on the bed, refusing to do any manual labour whatsoever.

"No, and its Tree Hill", Peyton corrected her.

Caroline considered what Peyton had said for a few moments, before nodding her head, saying "OK, that's fine." Peyton breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Caroline did not push her any further.

"But if you need to talk…about anything, Peyton; I want you to know that I'm here." Caroline said, looking at Peyton seriously, before picking up the bubble wrap lying on the floor and beginning to pop it, clearly amused.

Peyton laughed at her and was just about to ask her when everyone else was coming around to help them sort Peyton's apartment out, when her phone began to ring. She picked it up, checking the caller ID, surprised to see that it was an unknown number.

"Hello?" Peyton asked, wondering who was on the other end of the phone, shocked by the voice that responded.

"I have to say I'm a little hurt that I didn't get an invite to this new apartment warming that you're throwing. I mean you invite my brother of all people to your place, and I still can't even step foot inside?"

"How did you get this number?" Peyton asked- her curiosity stronger than her need to make some joke about how Stefan seemed like the superior choice of the two of them.

"I got it from Elena; well Elena's phone technically, I don't think she was entirely aware of me getting it from her." Damon smiled, proud of his own resourcefulness.

"You went through her phone without asking? Should I be worried that I have a new stalker to deal with?" Peyton asked, sitting on the bed next to Caroline, who was also clearly intrigued by the conversation she was having.

"Well I like to think of myself as persistent." Damon responded, also sitting down in an armchair in the boarding house parlour.

"Persistently irritating, if that's what you mean." Peyton replied, smiling to herself.

Damon chuckled in response. "Funny." he remarked.

"I like to think so." Peyton responded.

"Anyway, I rang to ask if you wanted to get dinner sometime."

"Dinner?" Peyton asked, completely caught off guard.

"Yes, it's that meal that you eat in the evening." Damon replied, fully aware she had avoided answering him.

"Eat?" Peyton asked again, realizing how stupid she must sound.

"Yes, you do eat, right?" Damon asked.

"Umm, yeah I…." Peyton said, unsure of how to respond.

"Well, well; I do believe Peyton Sawyer is speechless. And here I was thinking that you had a response to everything" Damon asked, clearly taking pleasure in how uncomfortable Peyton was feeling.

"I don't know; I mean after what Stefan said-" Peyton began before Damon cut her off.

"Oh please don't tell me that something my baby brother has said to you has scared you off. It's dinner Peyton; it's not a marriage proposal." Damon said.

There was silence as Peyton considered her options. True she had promised to herself that she wouldn't get involved with boys, especially since Lucas, but Damon was right- it was only dinner.

"Peyton?" Damon asked, noting this was the first time someone ever had to _consider_ whether or not to go out with him.

Peyton was suddenly brought back from her thoughts and looked to Caroline, who was nodding eagerly, waiting for her to say yes. Peyton bit her lip, unsure whether she was going to regret the next thing she said. "Sure."

"I'll pick you up at eight." Damon responded, waiting for her confirmation before shutting his cell phone and smirking to himself.

As soon as Peyton put the phone down Caroline began talking instantly and without breath. "Ok we need to decide what you're going to wear. Now I know Tyler likes blue, so if you don't have anything to wear, I have this blue strapless dress that would be perfect that you can borrow."

"Caroline!" Peyton said quickly, before she continued with what was bound to be a very long rant about the shoes and make-up that would look great with the outfit. "It wasn't Tyler." Peyton said.

"It wasn't?" Caroline asked, clearly confused. "Then who was it?"

"It was just this guy I met the first night I got here. He's Stefan's brother- Damon." Peyton said, "Do you know him?"

Caroline's facial expression subtly changed from excitement to one of fake happiness- an expression she had learnt to perfect over the years, from practice with her mother. "Yeah, I know him. Damon, wow…." Caroline said, her voice trailing off.

Peyton frowned, unsure what caused the sudden change of mood. "You suddenly don't sound that enthusiastic." Peyton said, waiting for Caroline to explain her lack of excitement.

Just as Caroline opened her mouth to speak the buzzer rang, and Caroline suddenly got up and said she would get the door, leaving Peyton sat at the bed thoroughly confused as to what had just happened. Before she had time to question what had just happened with Caroline, Bonnie and Elena walked in holding paint rollers, trays and overalls.

"Where shall we start?" Elena asked, roller at the ready awaiting instructions, causing Peyton to laugh aloud.

Within two hours, Peyton, Elena and Bonnie had painted her entire room- Caroline had insisted she was terrible at art and so just read magazines out loud whilst the rest of the girls were painting.

"I might get us some drinks." Bonnie said, putting down the paintbrush and heading out of the room.

"Hey Caroline, do you think that you could strain yourself and just pass that box over there?" Peyton asked, motioning to the box of artwork and drawings Peyton had brought with her from Tree Hill.

"Sure, as long as it's not anything heavy like books." Caroline smiled, reaching over for the box.

"Oh no god forbid", Peyton smiled, "don't worry it's just some of my art".

"You draw?" Caroline asked, opening the box without waiting for permission from Peyton, and taking out a handful of pieces.

"Oh no go ahead, I don't mind." Peyton said, as Elena laughed at just how sarcastic Peyton could be.

The buzzer rang again, and just as Peyton went to open it to, presumably Stefan, she heard Bonnie shout from the kitchen "I got it!"

"Oh my god Peyton these are amazing!" Caroline exclaimed, causing Elena to stop painting and move over and sit next to her on the bed.

"Thanks- most of them are pretty dark though, so try not to get too freaked out." Peyton said, sitting down next to the pair as they looked at the picture she drew of her, Brooke and Lucas, all shooting at the flaming heart.

"Please, you're going out with Damon, you're…" Caroline stopped herself midsentence, suddenly realizing what she had said, while Elena's head suddenly shot up from looking at the art, her face suddenly deadly serious.

Before anybody could say anything Matt's head popped through the door. "Hey Elena, Stefan's at the door, he said he needs to talk to you."

"OK, I'll be right back" Elena said to the pair, still reeling from the latest confession that Damon and Peyton were dating.

Elena left the bedroom, past where Tyler and Matt were talking to Bonnie in the kitchen to Stefan who was waiting outside the apartment door.

"Hey Stefan", she said, kissing him quickly on the lips, "you need me to get Peyton?" she asked, understanding he was otherwise unable to enter the apartment.

"Yeah, but first I need to talk to you about something." Stefan said, taking Elena by the arms and moving her further away from the open door of the apartment.

"OK…" Elena said her face full of confusion, unsure of what he was about to tell her. "But do you know that Damon and Peyton are dating?" Elena asked Stefan, seeing Stefan furrow his eyebrows; she added "well, according to Caroline anyway".

"They are actually dating?" Stefan asked.

"That's what she said. Either way, that can't be good for Peyton. I mean, I like her Stefan- she's a nice person. And Damon…" Elena said, knowing she did not need to finish her sentence.

"Listen Elena, it's actually worse than you think." Stefan continued at Elena's questioning look. "I tried to compel her; just to get her to stay away from Damon. I know it was stupid, but after everything he had done with Lexi, I just needed to protect her, somebody, from Damon". Stefan said attempting to explain.

Elena nodded in understanding, "Stefan it's OK, I understand. You did the right thing."

"Elena it didn't work. She was wearing vervain." Stefan said.

Elena looked up at Stefan, "Wait I don't understand. What does that mean- does she know about vampires?"

Stefan shook his head, "No. If she knew about vampires then she would know about compulsion, but she had no idea what I had tried to do."

Seeing Elena's confused face, Stefan continued, "Her father gave her the necklace. So I did some research and he grew up in Mystic Falls. I tried to-"

"Hey guys, are you going to spend the entire time out here?" Peyton asked, smiling at the two of them. "Hey Stefan" Peyton smiled politely, thought still feeling slightly awkward around him after their last encounter.

"Hey." Stefan replied, "Can I come inside?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course, Matt and Tyler are playing video games if you want to join them." Peyton said, moving over for Stefan and Elena to cross the threshold. Elena made her way back to the bedroom, while Stefan said to Peyton "Listen, I hope things aren't awkward between us after our last talk."

Peyton shook her head, lying, "No, nothing is awkward. We're fine."

"What I said about Damon; it wasn't my place- you can decide to date whoever you want to. It was wrong of me to talk to you like that. I'm sorry."

Peyton smiled, genuinely this time, "It's really water under the bridge. How about we start again?" Peyton asked.

"I would like that" Stefan said, smiling before moving over to the living room to sit with Tyler and Matt.

Just as Peyton was about to head back to decorating, Bonnie came out of her room, telling Peyton that she had to meet her dad. Peyton thanked her for coming before showing her out of the apartment and going back into her room.

"Paint's dried." Caroline said. "And it's about time in my opinion- painting is _hard!_" At the angry looks both Elena and Peyton shot at her, Caroline laughed "It's hard for you guys-I mean, just watching you was tiring."

"Of course Caroline, I completely feel your suffering!" Peyton exclaimed clutching her hand to her heart.

"Anyway, why don't we get the guys to put up the shelves seeing as they have done absolutely nothing all day, except play stupid games and then we can put up some photos-this place doesn't look very homey." Caroline said, looking around the bedroom.

Peyton looked down at the ground, realizing that she had only brought a few photos with her, as she had left in a hurry and didn't really want constant reminders of everyone she had left behind. "I actually didn't bring that many- just a couple of my mom and dad". Peyton said, worried about how weird she must have sounded to have almost no proof of any friendships before Mystic Falls.

However, seeing Peyton's expression, Caroline smiled and responded "I may not have been doing a lot of work, but I practically know what's in all of these boxes.", as she reached over to one of the boxes on the floor, pulling out the digital camera Nathan had given Peyton the Christmas they were still dating.

"What are you doing?" Peyton asked.

"So, you didn't bring any photos." Caroline shrugged. "That's what these are for", she said motioning to the camera, turning it on and telling Elena and Peyton to get together so she could take a picture.

"I'm going to go take some with the guys and then they can come in here and put the shelves up and stuff while we order some food." Caroline said, leaving the room.

Peyton laughed. "I get I have only known her for a while, but is she always-" Peyton began.

"Always" Elena replied, smiling.

"Can I ask you a question, Elena? Should I be worried…about Damon?" Peyton asked, nervous about what Elena's response would be.

"Why would you be worried?"

"Its just Stefan has already warned me to stay away, Caroline is practically dying to say something every time I mention his name but it's like she's holding back, and you are looking at me right now with that exact same look."

"I know Damon, Peyton. I know he can seem charming and funny and everything else, but just be careful around him." Elena said, trying not to seem as if she was warning Peyton off Damon, though that was exactly what she was trying to do.

"Can I ask you why? Its just people are telling me to stay away from him, but nobody is really that specific on the 'why', you know what I mean?" Peyton asked.

Elena was unsure how to explain to Peyton Damon was dangerous without telling her about the countless people he had killed and the people's lives he had destroyed. "He's just very destructive when it comes to relationships."

"Because of Katherine?" Peyton asked.

"You know about Katherine?" Elena asked, completely taken aback.

"Yeah, he told me about her-sort of." Peyton said.

"What did he say?" Elena asked the blonde, amazed that Damon had even managed to talk about Katherine to Peyton, as she was a virtual stranger.

"Not a lot. Just that he and Stefan were both in love with her and that she died." Peyton answered.

Elena considered what Peyton had just told her, still confused as to what agenda Damon could possibly have for telling Peyton about Katherine.

"I might check to see what's taking Caroline so long", Peyton interrupted Elena's thoughts, "but just to let you know I don't want any drama- if you say that he's bad news, then I'll stay away." Peyton smiled, before leaving the room.

Three hours later, the walls had been painted, furniture arranged and then re-arranged, until finally Peyton was happy with the apartment. Insisting she was fine and that she could use some time organizing her wardrobe and getting used to her new home, she ushered her new friends out of the apartment.

"I'm getting these developed, and I will give you this back next time I see you", Caroline said, holding the camera up to Peyton.

"Thank you Caroline". She said, before saying goodbye to the rest of the gang and shutting the door. Peyton then leant against the door and sighed, reaching for her phone to text Damon. Once the message had been sent she went to the bathroom, let the hot water tap run, got undressed and jumped in.

Five minutes of the persistent ring of the buzzer forced Peyton to get out the bath, wrap a towel around her and run to get the door; considering the possibility of a fire in her apartment, or an impatient Caroline on the other side of the door, explaining she had left something. Upon opening the door, she realized neither of her theories was correct.

"Well, you definitely know how to dress to impress on a first date." Damon remarked, his eyes travelling up and down her body, causing her to wrap the towel tighter around her body.

"What are you doing here, Damon! Didn't you get my message?" She asked, still trying to comprehend his presence at her door, while she was barely dressed.

"Ah…" Damon said, for the first time since she opened the door, taking his eyes off her, he reached into his pocket and opened his phone. "I'm busy tonight-sorry. Peyton" Damon read the message in a dull, monotonous tone, before looking up from his phone to Peyton. "Now, I know personal hygiene is important, but I don't think you need to spend a whole night-" he began before Peyton cut him off.

"Ok, if we are going to do this back-and-forth thing that we do" she said, motioning with her hands between the two of them, "then I am at least going to put some clothes on." Peyton said walking away, not waiting for a response.

"Oh come on, don't do that. I'll join you if you feel uncomfortable!" He said shouting after her, but already hearing the door shut to a room inside the apartment. "Great- I'll just wait out here", he muttered to himself under his breath.

Twenty minutes later, Peyton came out of her room wearing pyjamas, with her hair tied back in a messy bun. She came to the door to find Damon sitting down against the wall opposite Peyton's door, legs outstretched.

"I must say this may be the _best_ first date I have ever been on- the start of the date you are wearing no clothes, and now" he said, motioning to Peyton's clothes, "you are already dressed for bed. I like the way your mind thinks."

Peyton chuckled, "Damon, that's because that's the way _your_ mind thinks, not mine. Besides, you're not staying- you are leaving… now."

"You got changed so you could tell me to leave?" Damon asked confused, ignoring her request.

"I got changed because you would not stop looking at me." Peyton replied, leaning against the doorframe, realizing this conversation wouldn't be over just yet.

"Well I don't mind getting undressed so you can stare at me if that evens the playing field." Damon smirked, lifting his eyebrows up suggestively.

Peyton suppressed a smile, "didn't I ask you to leave?" she asked rhetorically.

"You did, but I chose to ignore that. I also chose to ignore the very vague 'I'm busy' blow-off text."

"You don't deal with rejection very well, do you?" She asked, taking Damon's lead and sitting down on the floor outside her apartment, sitting against the opposite wall, so she was facing Damon.

"Sweetheart, I don't deal with rejection." he stated matter-of-factly. "Believe it or not, I don't really need to pursue girls that I want to date."

"I don't believe for one second that you want to _date _me at all." Peyton said, to which Damon smiled.

"Well, if you're offering…" Damon said, but upon seeing Peyton's eyes rolling, he continued "Fine, but what will it take for you to stop asking me to leave?"

Peyton considered for a moment before setting out guidelines for the night, "No sarcastic responses- I ask you a serious question then I want a serious answer. No flirting." She then saw Damon's facial expression and heard him scoff. "Fine- try not to flirt excessively. And finally, and this is the most important thing- this is not a date". She finished, saying the last five words slower and with more emphasis.

"Deal", Damon agreed, "but you have to play too". Peyton nodded her head in agreement and Damon was just about to open his mouth to talk when they were interrupted.

"Someone order a pizza?" Peyton looked up in surprise to find a tall, skinny pizza guy standing, looking down at the pair questioningly. Peyton was just about to tell the man that he had the wrong address when Damon reached into his pocket for a $20 bill and took the steaming hot pizza boxes and laid them on the floor in front of them, as the pizza guy gave them one last look of confusion before walking away.

"You ordered pizza?" Peyton asked, aware that she shouldn't be as surprised as she was.

"Well somebody took half an hour to put on pyjamas! I know girls take hours to get ready…" Damon said, opening the pizza boxes, taking out a slice and offering it to Peyton.

"It only took me five minutes to get ready- I was making you wait." Peyton said, taking the pizza from him and smiling.

"I know" He replied, smiling back.

"So, how many first dates have you had?" Peyton asked to which Damon responded by almost choking on the pizza he was eating. "Wow, that many? And remember, no lying- that was the deal." Peyton reminded him.

"You want the truth? Too many to count." Damon answered, and quickly continued, before Peyton could comment. "OK, my turn…Why did you cancel on me tonight?"

"Well let's see- first it was Stefan, then Caroline, and finally Elena. When that many people warn me to stay away from a person, I'm not ignorant enough to ignore them." She replied, trying to ignore the fact that she was sitting outside her apartment, eating pizza with the guy in question she was meant to be "staying away from".

"That's funny- you don't strike me as the kind of person that listens to what other people say." Damon remarked, not breaking eye contact with Peyton.

"I'm not, but I came to Mystic Falls to leave drama, not invite it in." she replied.

"Well there's a question- why did you leave?" Damon asked, finishing his current pizza slice and helping himself to a second.

Peyton smiled, "So I could eventually meet you, of course" she responded sarcastically.

"I ask you a serious question then I want a serious answer." He mimicked her. "Don't make the rules if you can't follow them." He finished, challenging her for a response.

"There were lots of reasons." She answered vaguely.

"Why don't you give me the top three?" Damon answered, waiting for her to respond.

Peyton looked at Damon, considering for a moment whether she should just lie to him, but then remembered how honest he had been to her and opted for the truth. "I guess the main reason is that I was in love with someone who was dating my best friend."

Damon scoffed, "High school drama-that's why you left?"

Peyton felt her cheeks flushed as a wave of anger surged inside of her. "It wasn't some teenage infatuation, Damon!" Despite knowing the fact she didn't need to justify herself to him, she continued anyway, "Have you ever loved somebody who you just know that you are _meant _to be with? They know you and you know them completely and you still love them, regardless of who they are." She paused before she finished, "but you cant with them for whatever reason. That's what Lucas is to me." Damon was silent, forgetting until she mentioned his name that she wasn't describing Katherine to him.

"So how many first dates have you been on?" Damon asked, attempting to change the subject, and get rid of the awkward silence that had filled the hallway.

Peyton thought to herself for a minute, "Two, I guess." She said, thinking to herself that she and Lucas had never actually been on a proper date, so excluding him, she had only ever dated Nathan and Jake.

"Two people?" he exclaimed, shocked by her almost pristine record. "God, I feel like I'm dating the Virgin Mary!"

"And I'm dating Casanova, Mr. 'too many to count'." She remarked, smiling.

"Well, keep in mind that I'm older than you." He defended himself.

"How old are you?"

"I am 170 years old" Damon answered truthfully, smiling at her.

"Damon, come on." She said, tilting her head to the side, annoyed at the first less than truthful answer that she had got from Damon that.

"I'm 26". Damon responded.

"Wow, I have never dated an older guy before!" Peyton noted more to herself than Damon.

"Peyton, I thought we were clear from the beginning- this is _not _a date." Damon said, grinning at her, as she realized what she had just said.

"Can I ask you one last serious question- Why are you doing this? I mean like you said you don't pursue, so why are you here?" She said, asking the one question that she truly wanted to the answer to.

Damon considered her question for a moment, aware that he had been asking himself that same question since he had met her. By now Damon would have fed on her and compelled her; this was not his routine way of interacting with girls. "You remind me of somebody." He responded simply.

"Who?"

"Me" He grinned, widening his eyes.

"So you like me, because I remind you of you? I never realised you were such a narcissist." She commented.

"I didn't mean it like that" He responded, smiling at her.

"I know what you meant" She whispered, nodding in understanding. "Look, Damon I-" Peyton began.

"Oh please no speech. I have survived a _very_ long time without being given the 'its not you, its me' talk. Let's both walk away knowing that Casanova and Virgin Mary would never have worked out anyway. And _just_ because I like you, I'll let you leave." Damon said; surprised at his own generosity when he realized he meant what he said.

"You will let me leave? How kind of you!" Peyton said, laughing at his over-arrogance.

"Trust me Peyton, this is me being kind. Stefan and Caroline and Elena were right; I'm a dick!" He finished, honestly.

"Then, lucky me for getting out when I did." Peyton said, thought both her and Damon were aware that there wasn't nearly enough conviction in her voice as she spoke.

Damon smiled and got up from the floor, picking up the empty pizza boxes with him. "Goodnight, Peyton."

"Bye Damon." She said as she watched him walk away, trying to avoid the feeling in her gut that told her she didn't want him to leave and the part of her brain that told her that the two of them had a connection she was unable to just explain away.

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**I hope you liked the chapter- I was being overly critical about this chapter and I'm not sure if it turned out as well as it could have, but I'm hoping you all liked it. I also want to reply to all the reviews everyone has given me-which i LOVE by the way...**

**DarknessLover88: Thank you, and I really enjoy reading your Damon/Peyton fanfic as well.**

**perfectchange: I really love watching videos of them on YT as well- my two favourtie ones, (if you haven't already seen them) are "[Damon Centre of Attention/] [auc]" and also "Damon & Peyton- If you are a ghost, I'll call your name again." But yeah, they are such an amazing crossover couple in my opinion. And thank you for reviewing. :)**

**gosal11444: Thanks for reviewing! I hope I answered some of your questions in this chapter; the vervain in the bracelet probably won't be explained for another couple of chapters, but I do have a storyline planned with that as well. But Damon will probably find out and realize the significance of the vervain in the bracelet before Peyton does. **

**M: I agree that there aren't many Damon/Peyton fanfictions written, so I'm happy that you enjoyed reading this one, and thank you for reviewing.**

**Kathy Halliwell: Thank you sooo much for reviewing- your review definitely made me a lot less nervous about my writing and they are my latest obsession as well which is why I chose to do this fanfic.**

**fearless by past: Thank you for reviewing and I hope you continue to enjoy the next chapters as well!**

**My general message is thanks for the reviews and please keep them coming!**


	4. Words are very unnecessary

**Authors Note: I am soooo sorry for the late update. I have been dealing with uni applications lately, so I haven't been writing as much as I would like to. But that is all sorted now, so I'm hoping to get the next chapter to you in the next 2-3 weeks. The chapter is named after Depeche Mode's Enjoy the silence. Hopefully you enjoy the chapter too!**

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Peyton awoke to hear a shuffling sound coming from outside her room. At first, reluctant to believe that there was anybody but her in the apartment, she dismissed the sound, believing that she was simply hearing things. However, once she distinctly heard the cupboard drawers open and close in the kitchen, she could no longer ignore the sounds and lifted the bedcovers off her, silently creeping out of the bed. She reached for the first heavy object that she thought would do enough damage on any non-suspecting stranger lurking outside her bedroom; the bedside lamp, and walked on her tiptoes across the space of her bedroom, to the door. Holding onto the door handle and steadying her breath, she cursed her luck that throughout all the years she had lived in Tree Hill, she had never encountered an intruder in her house- the first month she had spent in a new town, completely alone, one happened to be in her apartment. Ignoring her nerves, she plucked up the courage to open the door slowly, praying for it not to make a sound. Taking a quick scan of the apartment, she saw both the kitchen and living-room were empty and was just about to lower the lamp when she heard noises coming from the bathroom. _A clean thief- there's something you don't see everyday. _She thought to herself. She then rushed to the bathroom door, raising the lamp as a weapon, waiting for her intruder to show themselves. The door was flung open, causing the people on both sides of the door to scream.

"Caroline!" Peyton exclaimed, lowering the lamp, whilst letting out a sigh of relief.

"Please don't hit me!" The blonde screamed back, placing her arms over her head, in a protective manner.

"What are you doing here? You scared the hell out me!" Peyton responded, dropping the lamp to the floor and clutching her chest, waiting for her heart rate to return to its normal pace.

"I scared you? Excuse me, but you weren't the one that was about to get attacked with a freaking lamp!" Caroline shouted back, walking out of the bathroom and collapsing on the sofa, her own heart beating a lot faster than it was a couple of minutes ago.

"I heard some noises coming from out here. I thought it was a thief." Peyton explained, walking to the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of orange juice and getting two muffins out of the fridge for herself and Caroline.

"Yeah well, it wasn't!" Caroline defended herself, before getting up to join Peyton in the kitchen. "I full on spend one hour in your bedroom and you didn't get up once! I figured you sleep like a log." Caroline said, taking the chocolate muffin Peyton had handed to her and drinking from the mug of coffee she had made for herself earlier. Peyton took a seat next to Caroline on one of the kitchen stools, resting her elbows on the worktop.

"Why were you in my bedroom?" Peyton asked, before returning to her original, unanswered question "What are you doing here? It's 8am!" She exclaimed, looking at her watch and not realizing just how early it was.

"I was making your house a home." Caroline responded simply. Upon seeing Peyton's confused face, Caroline reached over and shut the fridge door revealing fridge magnets of different fruits and vegetables and multi-coloured magnets spelling PEYTON- all of which she had missed the first time round when she opened the fridge.

"Fridge Magnets?" Peyton asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion.

"Fridge Magnets." Caroline repeated, nodding and smiling.

"Caroline, I don't-" Peyton started to say, before Caroline took her by the hand, pushing her back to her bedroom and opening the door wide open. Peyton then saw what she had neglected to see the first time round, when she woke up in her bedroom. On the wall, opposite the one that her bed was against were some of the drawing's that she had showed to Elena and Caroline the day that they were painting her room. There were three large blue cushions on the carpet, also resting against that side of the room, with a large, bright red Elmo teddy bear, causing her to laugh out loud. However, the one new change above everything else in her bedroom, that stood out was the board hanging above her bed, titled "Peyton's World". On the board were hundreds of different photos, most of which were taken the day that they had been decorating. There were photos of her with Caroline and Elena, photos of Matt and Tyler and Stefan and Bonnie- but there were also photos of her dad and Ellie and Brooke, Lucas, Nathan and Haley.

"There were already some photos on the camera." Caroline explained, seeing Peyton's questioning face.

Peyton then noticed the fact that the photos were directly above her bed. "How did I not wake up?" she asked, surprised by the deep slumber she must have been in to not have woken up when Caroline was standing on her bed, whilst she was sleeping on it, hammering nails into the wall and then hanging a large board off them.

"Like I said- you sleep like a log!" Caroline laughed, pleased that this was the reaction she was getting and not some lecture about invasion of privacy.

Peyton turned to Caroline, truly moved by everything her new, but already close friend had done. "You were making my house into a home." She echoed Caroline's earlier words, now realizing what she had meant. "Thank you!" She said, hugging Caroline tightly, her mood suddenly uplifted.

Caroline laughed into the hug and then turned towards the one remaining wall, "I also left one wall free for your 'nobody understands me' art". Caroline said, smiling.

"You have not known me long enough to know about my 'nobody understands me' art." Peyton replied, amazed, at just how much thought Caroline had put into the re-decoration of her apartment.

"Whatever. So what are your plans for today?" Caroline asked, going over to Peyton's bed and lying down.

"Well, I have a load of class work to catch up on and then I might do some of my 'nobody understands me' art."

"So you're free tonight?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah; why? You want to do something?" Peyton asked, moving closer to the collage of photos, to get a better look.

"Yeah, I was thinking about it." Caroline stated, though she had no intention of meeting Peyton that night; she had already made plans with Bonnie, but that didn't mean that she didn't have plans for Peyton. "So are you still seeing Damon?" Caroline asked, trying to sound as casual as she possibly could.

"No. Last time I saw him was a couple of weeks ago now." Peyton responded, masking the disappointment in her own voice, oblivious to the look of relief on Caroline's face. The truth was she hadn't seen Damon since the night he had shown up outside her apartment for their "non-date". She knew that she had told Damon that she didn't want anything to do with him. She knew that he had every right to listen to what she had said. But she wished that she didn't care so damn much that he hadn't tried to contact her since. She wasn't dependant on any guy and she was proud of it; she wasn't the type of girl that would sit around waiting for a guy to ring. She shouldn't care that Damon hadn't rang her and she didn't care-for the most part. However she still hated that small part of her that did care- what made him so special; she had only known him for a little over a month, she rationalized. She _shouldn't _care.

"How about we meet at 8, at the Mystic Grill?" Caroline asked, snapping Peyton away from her thoughts.

"Sounds good" Peyton agreed. "So you want to have some breakfast?" She asked, upon hearing her own stomach grumbling, not used to being awake at such an early hour.

"Sure. But not here- I have looked in your fridge, and I suddenly understand how you stay so slim." Caroline remarked, jumping from the bed.

"What are you talking about?" Peyton asked, following Caroline out of the room, grabbing her keys, purse and phone.

"You have a banana, half a pizza slice and yoghurt. Not even the greatest chefs can make a breakfast out of that. We are eating at my house." Caroline declared, more than asked. "And I also threw out everything in your fridge- we can buy some real food for you on the way to my house." Caroline said, waiting outside the apartment as Peyton locked the door.

"What was wrong with the yoghurt?" Peyton asked as they walked outside to Caroline's car, to which Caroline simply responded by laughing.

The drive to the store was relatively short. Caroline insisted on choosing everything that would be in Peyton's fridge, despite the fact Peyton had been living alone for many years; with her father working away from home for most of her life, she had gotten used to her lifestyle in Mystic Falls without much difficulty.

After buying breakfast food to eat for the day and enough food, Peyton thought, to keep her fed for at least the next few months, the pair split up as Peyton went in search for art supplies and Caroline went in search of an iPod case. They met at the checkout, Caroline carrying a dozen magazines with her, claiming that they were her weekly reading. After a couple of minutes arguing, Caroline finally gave in and agreed to Peyton paying for everything, as Caroline had been so kind as to pay for all the new additions Caroline had done in her apartment.

"So Stefan and Elena got together practically straight after he moved here" Caroline continued explaining to Peyton, once they were in her car again, the town's story that she had started when they had left Peyton's apartment. "Matt lives alone; he used to live with his sister Vicki, but she did a Houdini one night, so we don't really talk about her". Caroline said, checking off everyone's back story she had explained so far.

"And Stefan has only been here a couple of months?" Peyton asked, trying to convince herself that she was simply asking about Stefan and it wasn't some subtle way to learn more about his older brother.

"Yep- he moved here at the start of the school year. I think Damon moved here around the same time as him. They live at the old boarding house." Caroline quickly moved on from the Damon topic, "And Tyler is practically the one normal teenager, in terms of living arrangements- he lives with his mom and dad. His dad is actually the mayor- Mayor Lockwood, I don't know if you have heard of him yet, but he's practically royalty in this town." Peyton nodded, trying to digest all the information Caroline had given her so far about the town. "And that is pretty much everything you need to know about everybody you know in this town." Caroline finished, nodding and letting silence fill the car.

"Is that your not so subtle way of getting me to talk about my life?" Peyton asked, seeing through Caroline's tactics easily. Caroline shrugged her shoulders and Peyton considered for a minute, "OK, fine. What do you want to know?"

"Anything- you can talk about your family, your friends, why you left town." Caroline said, hoping the last one was the thing that Peyton talked about. "It's up to you." She finished, as she pulled up into her driveway.

Peyton grabbed half of the bags from the back seat as she stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut. "Well, I told you about my family. My dad captains a drudging boat, so I don't see him as often as I would like to. And my mom died when I was younger."

"Friends?" Caroline asked, grabbing the remainder of the bags, locking her car doors and opening the door to her house.

"I have a best friend called Brooke, and then there's Lucas, Nathan and Haley." Peyton said, listing off her closest friends. "But we don't really keep in touch." She added as an afterthought. Peyton tried to push to the back of her mind how much she missed her old friends; she hadn't seen or spoken to them at all since she had left. She had left Lucas, Nathan and Haley letter's to explain her absence, so that they wouldn't worry; she figured that Brooke wouldn't even open a letter from her even if she had sent her one. The way that she had left things with Brooke were hardly on good terms; she remembered the phrase 'backstabbing, two-faced bitch' had been used. She also changed her number since she had left Tree Hill, giving her new mobile number only to her dad. Her aim wasn't to cut everybody out of her life; though she figured that is what she had inadvertently done. She needed to find herself again- independent of any love for Lucas, or loyalty to Brooke. She used to be fiercely strong; she didn't need anybody else to define her, but in the last year, she had lost that part of herself. So she moved to Mystic Falls- under her dad's suggestion, and she was ready to start afresh.

"Well, I would ask you about why you left, but I'm trying this new thing where I don't get involved where I'm not wanted or force people to tell me things that they don't want to." Caroline said, bringing Peyton back to the present conversation for the second time that day.

"Really? That sounds _nothing_ like you!" She responded, raising her eyebrows.

Caroline laughed, "Well, I said that I'm trying, didn't I?" Caroline began to unload all of the bags onto the kitchen table and got the frying pan out of the cupboard. "You do the eggs and I'll do the bacon and toast." Caroline said, getting to work before even waiting for a reply.

By the time that they had finished eating, Caroline's mom had already come back from a meeting she had with her deputies.

"It's amazing!" Caroline laughed, cleaning up the plates from the table, "I never realized it's possible for scrambled eggs to taste both burnt and undercooked at the same time!"

"It was not that bad!" Peyton defended, used to getting insulted about her cooking.

"And the taste- oh my god! Who knew an egg could taste like that?" Caroline said, throwing the remainders of her egg into the bin and tossing the plates into the sink.

"Caroline. You want to introduce me to your new friend?" Caroline's mother said walking into the kitchen, with the mail in her hands, smiling at Peyton.

"Sure, mom-this is Peyton." Caroline said.

"Hi, I'm Peyton Sawyer." Peyton said, smiling at Caroline's mom, understanding Caroline's not so pleasant description of her mother was less than accurate.

"Sawyer?" Sheriff Forbes paused, thinking it was surely a coincidence. "Your father's name wouldn't be Larry Sawyer, would it?"

"Yeah, it is. Do you know him?" Peyton asked, intrigued by how Caroline's mom could know her dad; he hadn't mentioned that he knew anybody in this town.

"I know him in a manner of speaking. So has he moved here as well?" She asked, wondering whether she would have the pleasure of finally meeting the great Larry Sawyer that she had heard so much about.

"No. His work means that he is away most of the time. He captains a drudging boat, so he only usually comes home for a couple of weeks at a time." Peyton explained, completely oblivious to the reasons for the older blonde to ask after her father.

"I see". She responded. "I'm sorry girls; I just realized I have a meeting with the Mayor. Caroline if you are going out, don't stay out too late" She said to her daughter, before rushing back out of the house.

"Well, that was weird!" Caroline stated, before she started to wash up the dishes.

"Yeah" Peyton agreed, making a mental note to ask her dad about it the next time she spoke to him.

…

Elena rang the doorbell to the Salvatore boarding house, having got Stefan's message to meet him there. When Stefan opened the door, she followed him without saying anything to his bedroom where he shut the door and turned to face Elena.

"I did some digging." He finally spoke, walking over to the desk and getting out old newspapers dated back to the 1860's.

"On Peyton's family?" Elena asked, walking over to the desk and taking the newspapers from Stefan. The first one described an accidental fire that had killed an entire family in Mystic Falls in the early 1860's. The second newspaper clipping was of a wealthy family that had moved into the renovated house in Mystic Falls more than 1 year later.

Elena shook her head, "I don't understand-what has this got to do with Peyton?"

Stefan sighed, "The fire that killed that family was just weeks before Katherine arrived in Mystic Falls. What the newspaper failed to mention-what they and nobody else knew, was that there was one survivor of that fire- an eight year old boy."

Elena nodded; trying to understand what Stefan was explaining, but still not seeing the significance of that family and how it explained why Peyton was wearing vervain. "Look at the picture of the family that died, Elena. Look at the child in the photograph" Stefan said, pointing to the photograph on the stained newspaper clipping. "Now, look at the boy in this newspaper clipping." Elena looked at the two photographs and realized what Stefan meant, looking up from the newspaper.

"It's the same boy." She said, causing Stefan to nod. "So why is Peyton…?" Elena began, sitting on the bed and Stefan spent the next hour describing to her everything else he had uncovered during his search into Peyton's family history.

Once Stefan had finished, Elena was amazed. "Have you told Damon?" She asked, worried about what his reaction would be.

"No. And I don't think I'm going to." Seeing Elena's concerned face, he began to reassure her "But I asked him about her- he says he hasn't seen her." Stefan shrugged, "He's Damon. He's probably just got bored and moved on. If I tell him about it now, then that would cause more problems than good and I just don't want to risk it." Stefan finished- he had already been through his logic and realized if he told Damon what he had uncovered about Peyton and her family that it would be more dangerous for her than if he just kept quiet.

"What are we going to do, Stefan?" Elena asked, worried not only for Peyton's safety, but also of what else Damon was capable of in light of this new information.

"Yeah, Stef, what are we going to do?" Damon repeated Elena mockingly, stepping into Stefan's room, causing Elena to gasp-worried about just how much of the conversation Damon had heard. Damon then laughed, taking pleasure in the fact he had managed to scare Elena and piss Stefan off all in one go. This then relaxed Stefan, as he realized Damon must not heard his conversation with Elena, so he proceeded to ask why Damon was in his room.

"I came to see if you had my shirt- I'm going out." Damon lied, walking over to Stefan's wardrobes without waiting for permission and looking through the different non-designer shirts his brother had. He had in fact just come to Stefan's room to annoy Elena and Stefan, so he could leave the house in a good mood. "Geez, little brother- we have _got_ to take you shopping!" Damon exclaimed, throwing shirts haphazardly off the rack and all over the floor. "Aha! Here it is." Damon lied again, taking a random shirt from the wardrobe.

"That's my shirt." Stefan said, clearly not as amused as Damon was by this little game he was playing.

Damon pretended to think for a second, "Right you are Stefan! Silly me-what was I thinking?" He asked rhetorically, throwing the shirt to Stefan and walking back out of the room. He then paused by the door. "Later, Elena." He said, smirking when she threw him back a look of annoyance. "Stefan, don't wait up." He said in a sing-song voice, glancing back to Stefan, before walking out of the room, smiling at how almost a century had passed, and he still got an unexplainable joy from irritating his brother.

…..

Damon got to the Mystic Grill and looked around the bar/restaurant before he laid eyes on a familiar blonde haired, green-eyed girl, sitting alone at the bar. He smirked, realizing his night was just about to get a lot better. He casually walked over to the bar, silently ordering both himself and Peyton a glass of bourbon with just of flick of his wrist to the bartender.

Peyton saw out of the corner of her eyes Damon take a seat next to her at the bar, while the bartender poured a pair of drinks for the two of them. She then heard him tap his fingers against the wooden counter top randomly, as he started to hum parts of what she recognized as Simon and Garfunkel's _'Sound of Silence'_. She bit her inner lip, trying her hardest not to laugh, as he stopped humming and just drank from his glass.

She took her own glass and silently drank from it, looking out of the corner of her eye at him, all the while still trying to stop herself from smiling. Damon also then raised his eyebrow, glancing in her direction, watching her drinking the bourbon.

A couple of minutes later and the looks towards each other were less subtle. Damon would first turn his head completely to look at her, smiling and daring her to look back at him. Then seconds later, when he was looking straight ahead again, she would do the same, looking at him for one or two seconds, smiling at him, before she turned away from him. This went on for another minute before she finally gave up.

"Stop it!" She exclaimed, unable to not talk any longer, she finally turned her whole seat to look at him, allowing him to win this game.

"Stop what?" Damon asked innocently, mirroring Peyton's movements and swivelling his stool, so he was also now facing her.

"Stop looking at me like that!" She said in a tone of voice that suggested that she was annoyed, though her face told a completely different story.

"Looking at you like what?" He asked, only half expecting a response, wondering to himself why it had been so long since he had last seen Peyton. He then remembered his promise to her and figured since she was the first one to talk out of the two of them she was clearly still interested in him.

"And by the way, you were humming out of tune." Peyton couldn't wait to add; having to hold her breath to not insult him when he began to hum the song only moments ago.

"You can't hum out of tune!" He scoffed. He watched as she reached for her phone, glancing at the screen, before placing it back on the bar. "Hot date?" Damon asked; his curiosity greater than his desire to remain nonchalant. Seeing Peyton's blank expression, he gestured to her phone and then said "Or am I boring you already?" He wasn't sure the answer to which question would bother him more.

Peyton considered lying to see what his reaction would be, before she opted for the truth instead, "Caroline stood me up. We were meant to get something to eat." She explained, considering whether she should text her blonde friend.

"Wow! You and Caroline- can I watch?" He smirked, while Peyton just rolled her eyes.

"This is starting to be a habit-her not showing up, and I end up spending the night with you instead." Peyton announced, realizing the running pattern.

"I eat." Damon stated simply, waiting for an invitation he was only 50-50 sure that he would get.

"Fascinating." Peyton responded sarcastically, refusing to acknowledge his hint. She had already agreed to have dinner with him once, and despite how much she had missed his company in the last few weeks, she would not give in to him that easily again.

Damon laughed. _What is it about this girl?_ He thought to himself. Sure, she was attractive. But looks only got you so far where Damon was concerned. He had met plenty of hot girls- he had never hesitated so much on feeding on them and compelling them. But with her, he wanted to do neither. _If only Stefan could see him now…_

"Fine." He said simply.

"What?" She asked, waiting for a response. When she didn't get one, she laughed "You're giving me the silent treatment now." He shrugged his shoulders, refusing to say anything else. "Fine by me." Peyton smiled, taking his lead.

They sat in silence for what, to Peyton, felt like hours, before she finally relented; hating the fact he had won twice now. "Fine, let's eat! But we are having it here, just in case Caroline does show up." Damon smirked at how quickly she had given in; he was more than willing to do this for another couple of hours, at least.

"OK, I'll get the food and you get us a table." He said, waiting for her to agree before going off in search of a waiter.

By the time they had finished their meals, Caroline was now over 2 hours late and Peyton had just assumed she had forgotten. Damon pushed their plates to the side, laying his arms on the table and leaning forward, his own face just inches from Peyton's.

"So what shall we do now?" He asked, his perfectly ice blue eyes putting Peyton's green eyes in a trance that she _had_ to snap out of. She moved her head further away from his, figuring that them being in such close proximity to each other wasn't helping her plan of resisting him- the desire to kiss him right there and then also wasn't helping. Damon rolled his eyes and relaxed back into his seat. "You had a good time tonight- why fight something you and I both know will ultimately happen?"

Peyton suddenly felt a lot more confident in her ability to resist him; his arrogance was a characteristic she found very unappealing and annoying. "I had an average time tonight. I would have had a _good_ time with Caroline." She quipped back.

"If it was that terrible, why didn't you ring her to see where she was?" At Peyton's silence, he grinned- he knew he had got her there.

She leaned across the table, speaking very slowly and with deliberation "Damon, we are not going anywhere together tonight. And I am not going to invite you into my house."

Damon scowled, angered by her strong will and annoyed by what he was forced to do next. He rarely compelled a girl before he had fed on her; to be fair he had never needed to compel a girl before he fed on her. Nonetheless, she was making it impossible to charm her the old-fashioned way and as he pointed out many times before, he never was one for the thrill of the chase. He looked her in the eyes and took a deep breath before he began. "You are going to forget what happens for the rest of the night. You are going to invite me back-" He hesitated, looking away from her eyes and wondering why he was having so much trouble compelling her. It wasn't one of the more difficult vampire parlour tricks and besides that he had more than a century's worth of practice. What was stopping him from compelling this one girl? _Why the hell is she so different?_ He looked up from the table, frowning, he sighed in frustration and apologized haphazardly, knowing that for whatever reason, he couldn't compel her tonight.

Peyton herself was confused by what had just happened. "You think you can flash me one look of those baby-blues and I'm just bound to fall for you?" She asked, thinking to herself that she preferred the silent treatment technique that he had started the night with.

Damon looked at her, taken-aback for a second before he did the standard search. He took a quick glance at her neck, fingers and wrist before he finally saw it. "That's a nice bracelet", he said, throwing the compliment in before asking, "where did you get it?"

"What?" Peyton asked, completely baffled by his strange new behaviour, sub-consciously playing with the bracelet chain with her index finger and thumb.

"Where did you get the bracelet?" He repeated, less patiently this time. He gently took her wrist, and without asking, lifted it closer to his face to inspect it. It definitely had vervain in it, he realized, before laying her arm back on the table.

"My dad gave it to me, he-" She began before he cut her off.

"He works out at sea, right?" Damon asked, remembering her telling him from their first meeting- the night she arrived in town. Upon Peyton's confirmation, Damon began to consider all the possibilities as to why Peyton's dad would give her a necklace containing vervain; it wasn't as if they packed vampire-poisoning herbs in your standard jewellery. He automatically ruled out that it was a coincidence; things happening in Mystic Falls were never just coincidence. Which meant Peyton's dad must know about vampires, Damon finally concluded.

"Considering how much you hate your brother, you two have a lot in common." Peyton said, interrupting Damon's thoughts.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused why she was suddenly bringing Stefan into this conversation.

"Stefan asked about this bracelet as well." Peyton explained, thinking to herself, that if Damon wasn't so good at the flirting, she would have considered that maybe he was gay. Never had Lucas or Nathan, or any other straight guy that she knew, for that matter, ever had such an interest in a piece of jewellery

"Stefan asked you about this bracelet? When was this?" Damon asked, trying to hold in his newfound rush of anger.

"Yeah; a couple of days after I moved here" Peyton answered, curious as to why she was still entertaining his strange, random questions.

Damon laughed to himself, though Peyton could see the laugh wasn't one of amusement. "That son of a bitch!" He exclaimed, now completely pissed off and ready to kill somebody or multiple people- starting with his brother. He then looked at Peyton, who was just sitting there completely mystified by what was going on. "I have to go." Damon announced, getting up from the table quickly and grabbing his jacket from his seat. "I'm sorry" He apologized, throwing two 20 dollar bills on the table and charging out of the restaurant, leaving Peyton alone with no explanation.

Peyton got up to leave when Caroline rushed into the restaurant, scanning the place until she spotted Peyton and she ran over to her.

"I am so sorry!" Caroline said before Peyton could say anything, completely out of breath.

"Yeah, it seems to be a night of apologies." Peyton mused, still thinking about Damon's quick departure.

Caroline seemingly ignored what Peyton had just said and continued. "I wasn't planning on coming here at all." Caroline said, explaining herself to Peyton "This was _supposed _to be a blind date between you and Tyler. Except Tyler didn't show up, because he had some fancy dinner that came up last minute with his dad and the dean and the chancellor and whoever else." Caroline said, without taking a breath and ignoring Peyton's cries to get her to stop talking. "Not that he knew this was a blind date-he thought a few of us were just getting something to eat. Then I wouldn't show up and then the two of you would see each other and have dinner and go on a proper date." Caroline continued, explaining the logic that she had for the perfect date that she had planned for Peyton and Tyler.

"Caroline, Caroline, stop!" Peyton exclaimed, shouting over Caroline, to get her to stop talking for a minute.

"I am so _so_ sorry!" She said again, upset that she had left her friend for well over three hours in a restaurant by herself.

"It's OK." Peyton said, forgiving Caroline, knowing she had been well-intentioned. "You set me up on a blind date?" Peyton asked, smirking at Caroline.

Caroline nodded, still feeling guilty. "What happened to you not to getting involved where you're not wanted?" Peyton asked, not surprised at all that Caroline's new resolution had lasted less than a day.

"I said I was trying! What more do you want?" Caroline asked, her mood considerably lightened, as she realized Peyton wasn't angry.

Peyton laughed, as they walked out of the restaurant, agreeing to get some desert to eat at Peyton's as she explained what she had been doing that night, while she was waiting for Caroline.

…..

Damon opened the door to the boarding house and called out for his brother. When he got no response, he rushed to his brothers bedroom and slammed open the door with as much force as possible, without breaking the door off its hinges. Although at this point, trashing Stefan's bedroom didn't seem like a bad idea. Stefan was sitting at his desk and he looked up at Damon in confusion.

"I just ran into Peyton." Damon began, resisting the desire to rush over to Stefan and snap his neck right now-its not as if he wouldn't just come back to life anyway, but that would delay the time he had to wait to get some answers. "Funny, story actually" Damon began "I tried to use my influential powers on her". Damon stopped when he saw that Stefan finally understood where he was going with this story.

"Damon-" Stefan began.

"Explain now!"

* * *

**Authors Note: So what did you think? I know that there isn't a lot of Damon/Peyton in this chapter, but the next chapter is basically going to be all Damon/Peyton, so hopefully you will forgive me. Quick question, whether you guys reallyyyyyyyy want to know now the whole story with Peyton's family- in which case I will carry it on into the next chapter, or if you mind waiting a couple more chapters. Let me know and I will go by what reviews say. Speaking of, a special thank you to everyone that has reviewed so far- I really appreciate them and thanks to everyone that reads my story and is hopefully liking it so far. OK, enough of me talking, let me know what you think. Thank you. **


	5. I ain't missing you at all

**Author's Note: I wanted to get the chapter out a couple of day's ago, but I couldn't so better late than never, I guess. Chapter title is from the song "Missing you", which I do not own. Hope everyone had a happy Halloween (if you celebrate it) and I really hope you like the chapter, so here it is...**

* * *

Damon frowned, resting his head in his hands. "I'm confused, Stefan. What exactly are you trying say? That Peyton's dad is a-"

"I don't know, Damon!" Stefan said, letting out a sigh of frustration at the endless questioning that had come from Damon within the last two and a half hours. "I can't say for sure. But he isn't who he says he is. I looked into the dredging company that he is meant to work for. They say that there is no Larry Sawyer from Tree Hill that works for them."

Damon sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to make sense of everything Stefan had told him, until Stefan interrupted his thoughts. "He's not who he says he is; he gave his daughter a vervain bracelet which means that he knows about vampires."

"Yeah, I get it Columbo. There is something off about him." Damon snapped, still irritated at the fact Stefan had withheld this information from him for so long.

"Are you sure that Peyton doesn't know? Stefan asked, considering the possibility that Peyton may not be as completely in the dark about her father as she seemed.

"Oh come on!" Damon scoffed, quickly dismissing Stefan's suggestion as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

"She could be protecting her father…" Stefan reasoned, thinking it wouldn't be so difficult to believe that she could know about her father.

"She doesn't know, Stefan!" He shouted back, in a defensive tone that surprised both him and Stefan. If it wasn't for their current situation, Damon would have laughed at the sudden role-reversal between him and his younger brother; he was meant to be the non-trusting one, whilst Stefan was meant to be the one giving humans the benefit of the doubt. "What I don't understand is why you didn't tell me about this the _minute _you found out that she was wearing vervain." Damon said, before Stefan could start questioning him on what exactly the nature of his relationship with Peyton was, as he was sure Stefan would.

"I already told you- you said to me that you hadn't spoken to Peyton. I didn't think there was any need to tell you about her family if you were staying away from her anyway." Stefan explained to Damon, although even he knew that his logic didn't altogether work.

"Oh please! That is such BS- it was your pathetic way of trying to protect her." Damon said, immediately seeing through Stefan's tactics, knowing that was the only reason Stefan would keep something like that from him.

"Look, either way, you need to stay away from her." Stefan stated; Damon may act reckless at times, but he wasn't stupid. He knew to stay away from Peyton, especially when there were still so many unanswered questions about her family and their involvement with vampires. At Damon's continued silence, Stefan began again "Damon, it's too dangerous-"

"I got it, Stefan! I'll leave her alone." Damon exclaimed, not so much annoyed at Stefan but the entire situation he found himself in. _Why did it have to be her? _He asked himself, knowing what he had to do, but also acknowledging that staying away from her wasn't going to be easy or something that he was looking forward to. Damon got up to leave, when Stefan asked him "What are you doing?"

"I have spent the last few hours of my Saturday night talking to my brother about a girl-_trust me_ when I say this isn't how I envisioned my night going. I'm going to sleep." He announced.

"What about-" Stefan began.

"I'll talk to Liz; Peyton told me her dad used to live here, Liz is on the council, if anyone knows anything it will be her." Damon continued, "I guess I'll go to the library as well tomorrow- check through the town history archive, see if we can find out anything else about the Sawyer's."

"I told you, I already went through the books and newspaper articles."

"Well, you might have missed something!" Damon said, annoyed and extremely tired at this point. Without another word, he left the room, almost wishing that he hadn't demanded the truth from Stefan.

…

Peyton woke up, forgetting for a few short blissful seconds what day it was today. Then the ignorance was over and she groaned into her pillow, knowing today would not be a good day for her or anyone who crossed her path. _Halloween. _But it was more than just a festive holiday that made her resent this day so much, or more specifically why she was not looking forward to this particular Halloween. Yesterday she had already resolved to avoid contact with anybody she knew, which to be fair wouldn't be that difficult. Caroline had organized a big Halloween party at her house, which meant that she wouldn't be seeing anyone from high school and she simply lied to Caroline, saying she was feeling ill and didn't think she would be able to make it. She felt guilty, but at the same time, she knew she wouldn't be in the mood to party any time soon and she knew it was the only way to not go to the party without Caroline dragging her all the way there.

She got up and started to make her bed when she saw the collage Caroline had made for her, hanging above her bed. In the far left corner was a picture of her and Lucas after an away basketball game that they had lost. Lucas was in a really bad mood so Peyton snuck them both out after curfew and took him to a café that had local bands performing live. Most of the bands were shockingly terrible, and both Lucas and Peyton had to stop from laughing and sniggering during their performances. But she hadn't come for the bands, she had come to cheer Lucas up and by the end of the night he had forgotten all about the stupid game they had lost. She smiled at the memory and then frowned, remembering where she was and how far away from home she was. She sighed, knowing that she couldn't spend her entire day in her apartment; she grabbed some clothes and went to bathroom.

After she had brushed her teeth and had a quick shower, she went to her room and got her bag, grabbed an apple that was lying on the kitchen counter and walked down the short flight of stairs to outside where her car was parked, reversed onto the road and began to drive.

Peyton walked up the worn stone steps and into the library and looked around. She had never been to the local library but after making a mental list of all the places in the town she could go that wouldn't have anybody that she knew, the library seemed like the safest bet. She let out a sigh of relief when she realized the library was empty apart from the librarian sitting at a circular desk in the centre of the room. The room itself was circular, with high rise walls and large bookcases resting against the walls, spanning the entirety of the room. She glanced up the spiral staircase that led to the computers and saw that the open room was also empty. As Peyton walked past the librarian's desk, she noted the librarian sat there wearing a short, low-cut nurse's outfit. _Slutty librarian- __**perfect**__ Halloween outfit!_ Peyton thought to herself sarcastically, as she made her way to one of the tables, emptying the contents of her bag.

…..

Caroline ran to get the door, while still barking orders at Elena and Bonnie to get the decorations finished in the living room. She swung the door open, still smiling and excited at the night ahead when her face suddenly fell.

"Damon." She sighed, deliberating on whether she should just shut the door in his face.

"Caroline!" He said, doing little to hide the disdain in his own voice.

"Peyton's not here." Caroline said, guessing the reason he had come to her house. "She's not feeling well. Then again I wouldn't be feeling too great either if I had to spend my entire night with you." She said, giving Damon her fakest smile.

"Oh Caroline, that's not what you were saying a couple of months ago. I remember when you used to like spending your entire nights with me." Damon said, smirking when he saw her expression change to one of anger and embarrassment.

"I plead temporary insanity." She said, folding her arms defensively across her body. "Anyway, like I said, Peyton isn't here, so…" Caroline, said, ready to shut the door on Damon until he held his hand out to the door to stop her.

"I actually wasn't here to see Peyton." Damon explained.

"Then what are you doing here?" She asked, genuinely surprised. Everyone knew that there was no love lost between the two of them, and if he wasn't here for Peyton, there was no other reason he would be at her door.

"Your mom isn't at work and she isn't answering her cell." Damon said, enjoying spending time with Caroline about as much as she enjoyed spending time with him.

"Working your way through the entire Forbes family, because I have to tell you're not her type." Damon let out a short laugh and considering joking how he was everybody's type, but soon remembered the reason he needed to see Liz in the first place, and chose to refrain. Caroline continued, "She's not here. Why do you want to see my mother anyway?"

"Did nobody ever teach you not to get involved in adults business?" He asked rhetorically. "If you see her, tell her that I'm looking for her. Caroline, as always, it was a pleasure." Damon finished sarcastically, already walking down the driveway and back to his car. He could make out Caroline respond by saying "likewise", just as sharply as she slammed the door shut.

….

"So if you can give me a call back as soon as you can, Liz." Damon said, talking into his phone, whilst parking the car on the road near Mystic Falls library. Damon walked towards the library with slow deliberation; he _hated _libraries- everything about them from the musty old smell of the books, to the fact that it was one of the only places where he couldn't get any damn bourbon, and probably the one place where he _most _needed a drink.

He sauntered into the library, going straight to the nearest bookcase, moving from aisle to aisle until he finally got to the local history section. He grabbed a handful of the books, and the newspaper articles from his jacket pocket that Stefan had printed out. He moved out from the bookcases walking to the desks when he noticed a curly-haired blonde sitting at a table by herself. He stood stationary for a minute, debating what he should do. He knew what the right thing to do was-he should listen to Stefan and stay away from her, at least until he had more information on her family. He let out a long sigh, only half-heartedly scolding himself for his lack of willpower, as he made his way over to where she was sitting. He stood over the table and cleared his throat, but soon realized that she had her headphones in, with her music blasting at what he imagined must have been the highest volume. He stood there, watching her scribbling furiously into a sketchpad and was just about to lean over to see what she was drawing when she looked up from the paper. She took out her headphones, raising her eyebrows at him.

"What are you doing here?" Peyton asked moodily, returning to her drawing.

"Second time someone has said that to me today. Can nobody just be happy to see me!" He asked, smiling, waiting for some sarcastic response. When she remained silent, he continued "Mind if I sit here?"

"It's a free country." She stated, with just as much attitude as her first question to him. She stopped drawing for a second, staring at the sketchpad, lost in her thoughts, until Damon slammed some books on the table and took the seat opposite her. She looked at one of the books he had brought, and frowned. "19th century: Mystic Falls, Virginia." She read the title aloud, looking at Damon questioningly.

He simply shrugged and began leafing through one of the books. "You're not at Caroline's." He stated, already finding himself bored to death about the research he had to go through. He did not envy the amount of articles, books and journals Stefan must have gone through to get all of this information.

"And you're in a library" Peyton sighed, "I understand you haven't been to one of these buildings before, but they don't sell you any bourbon here. And you do know that there aren't any vulnerable sorority girls for you to take advantage of here." She finished, causing him to smirk. _Another reason he hated libraries_. He thought to himself.

"Wow. We are extra bitchy today, aren't we? What is it; you didn't take your Cheerios today?" He asked, safely assuming now wasn't the time to question Peyton on her family.

"Look, I'm really not in the mood for company- so if you're angling for a drink or dinner, I'm just going to save you some time and say no." She said, wanting nothing else but for him to leave.

Damon lifted his hands up, as if in surrender. "Hey, I'm here to learn, no ulterior motive from me." He paused, watching her for a minute before he continued "You seem upset. Do you want to…talk about it?" He visibly cringed at his last suggestion, shuddering at the idea of playing therapist.

"If I wanted to talk about my feelings, I would see Caroline, not you." She said her voice full of venom.

"Thank god!" He exclaimed, doing nothing to hide the relief on his face.

Peyton put her pencil down, putting her book face down for the first time since he had sat down with her. "So, why are reading up on Mystic Falls in the 1860's?" she asked, flicking through one of the books and going to the pages Damon had bookmarked.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." He answered, raising his eyebrows and smirking at Peyton, gesturing towards her sketchpad. Peyton glared at Damon, causing the smirk to suddenly disappear from his face. "Or not…" He trailed off.

Peyton stared blankly at her sketchpad, frustrated with what was on the page before her. Since she had been here, she had been drawing the same thing every time, or more accurately, the same person. She hated how much he was under her skin. In her mind, she would set about to draw a random object, but the final drawing would always be of Lucas. "Seriously Damon, I'm not in a good mood. You being here just means you are right in the firing line."

He refrained from joking about how he had dealt with a lot worse than a teenage girl PMSing, recognizing that it would do nothing to improve her mood. "Hey, like I said, I'm here for the books. We don't have to talk." He said as he began to skim read the newspaper article Stefan had found about the fire in 1864. He vaguely remembered the fire and the Chambers family that had perished in it. They were a fairly reclusive family, avoiding all social gatherings that the founding families threw, which is why he didn't think much of it at the time when news spread of the fire that had killed the family. This was probably also why, Damon figured, nobody truly recognized when the youngest born was unnoticed when he reappeared as the only child of the new family that moved to Mystic Falls one year later. Of course by that time, both he and Stefan were forced to flee Mystic Falls due to their "deaths", so he had next to no information about the family. Though he had to admit, Stefan's extensive, mind-numbingly boring research did come in useful. "The only thing missing is a damn family tree." He muttered under his breath, as he moved onto the next book on the never-ending pile.

"Salvatore." Peyton mumbled.

"Hmm?" Damon looked up from the book to see Peyton looking through the book, she had picked up before. She had abandoned her sketch pad, and looked up at Damon, her face riddled with confusion.

"Why is your name in this book?" Peyton asked, pointing to the register recorded at the back of the book, showing the founding families names.

"Well, I just happen to be one of the founding families in Mystic Falls; look a little closer and you'll see there is Gilbert and your new blonde BFF, Forbes on there as well. Now how cool is that?" He smiled.

"It's fascinating, Damon." She replied flatly.

"OK, seriously, what gives?" He frowned, wondering what could have possibly changed from when he saw her just yesterday. "This wasn't because of how I left yesterday, was it?" he joked, before continuing "because I really did have somewhere to go".

"Oh my god, you are so _unbelievably_ self-absorbed! Believe it or not, my life doesn't revolve around you and your actions." She snapped letting out all the overwhelming feelings of anger and hatred she had been feeling that day. She let out a deep sigh, knowing she should feel guilty that she had taken out her frustration on Damon, but blaming him for her mood.

Damon smiled faintly, staring at her intently "Taking your anger out on me, when I'm clearly not the reason for your bad mood- it's kind of transparent, sweetheart."

Peyton's green orbs met Damon's pale blue and for the briefest of moments, Peyton felt all her walls breaking down before her, as if he could see straight through the front she put on, to the ever-constant pain she was feeling underneath. Then the moment was gone, and she responded, half-whispering "don't call me sweetheart."

He nodded slowly in response, still not taking his eyes off her, until she once again turned to her book, opened a fresh page and began drawing again. Damon turned back to his books, now only paying half as much attention to what he was reading. Another 10 minutes passed, with silence between the two of them, when Peyton's stomach began to grumble, causing to her to move uncomfortably in her chair. Damon looked up from the book, "Hungry?"

"I'm fine." She lied, realizing it was already 6pm and she had only eaten one apple all day. When her stomach began to rumble again, Peyton was thankful when Damon either seemingly didn't hear it, or chose to ignore it.

Peyton pretended not to notice or care when Damon got up from the table and without explanation began to walk out of the library. He returned a few minutes later, walking past the librarian's desk, he winked at the woman on the other side of the desk and couldn't help but smirk when he caused her to blush. _Slutty librarian- that's the __**perfect**__ Halloween outfit. _He thought to himself, knowing there was a reason he liked Halloween.

When he reached Peyton's desk, he emptied the contents of a Halloween witches cauldron containing chocolates, sweets and cookies, sitting back in his seat, without saying a word.

Peyton looked at the sweets and then up at Damon, trying to stop the smile, forming at the ends of her lips. "Did you steal candy from a kid?" She asked incredulously, beginning to take chocolates from the table.

Damon shrugged carelessly, "Please! You would _not_ be taking the moral high ground if you saw the boy. That kid was one twinkie away from clinical obesity- I should be getting some sort of citizenship medal!"

Peyton let out a short burst of laughter, followed by the first genuine smile on her face that day, in turn causing Damon to smile. Damon pointed to Peyton's art book, "So what do you draw?"

"Puppies and sunsets." Peyton answered sarcastically, causing Damon to smile; thankful of the slow introduction of the playful banter that he was so accustomed to when talking to her.

"You draw people?" Damon asked, seeing Peyton nod apprehensively, he continued, "You take requests?"

Peyton was about to speak when Damon's cell phone began to vibrate. Damon looked down at his cell at the caller ID, walking to the other side of the room. "I'm sorry- I've got to take this."

By the time Damon got back, he sat silently at the table, lost in his own thoughts. Peyton looked at Damon, "Is everything OK?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"What? Oh…No…Yeah, everything is fine." Damon said, stuttering, still completely baffled and dazed by what he had just been told. "Listen, Peyton, I have to go." Damon said getting up from the table abruptly.

Peyton did little to hide the anger and disappointment in her voice "of course you do."

"Peyton, it's really important." Damon said, trying to make Peyton understand, even though he couldn't even explain why he had to go, again.

"It's fine Damon, spare me the details." Peyton said her happy mood short-lived. She looked up to see Damon staring at her, as if debating whether he should stay. "Go!" Peyton screamed, startling the librarian, sitting behind her desk. Damon frowned, hesitating only for a few seconds before he left, not saying another word.

…

"I got your text- what did you find out?" Stefan asked, once Damon had arrived back at the Salvatore boarding house.

"Bad things, Stefan, very bad things." Damon said, going straight to the bottle of bourbon laying on the counter in the parlour and pouring himself a drink.

Stefan waiting for Damon to expand and when he didn't, Stefan shook his head, "you want to elaborate?"

"I asked Liz about Daddy dearest" Damon began, downing his drink in one and pouring more alcohol into the glass, savouring the taste of the bourbon as it flowed down his throat. "It turns out old man Sawyer not only knows about vampires, he _kills _them!" Damon said, his eyes widening. Seeing the shock on Stefan's face, Damon continued "Yeah! Liz was telling me how he's practically a self-proclaimed Van Helsing."

Stefan furrowed his brows "He's a vampire hunter?" He asked, fully taken aback.

"You're not hearing me Stefan, he is _the _vampire hunter. Apparently his father taught him all about vampires, and his father taught him and et cetera. A family line of hunters, learning from their predecessors, which basically means this guy is pretty _badass_." Damon said, lying on the sofa, resting his head on the armchair.

"Does he know about the founder's council?" Stefan asked, wondering why he would send his daughter to a town that was once notoriously known for inhabiting vampires.

"Oh he knows about the council- doesn't want any part of it. He says they are amateurs." Damon laughed aloud, "got to agree with him there. Which I guess is the one ray of shining light out of all of this. Liz doesn't bother updating him, per his own request, so he knows zip about the recent 'animal attacks' in Mystic Falls" Damon finished, using air quotes.

"So this might be good news. He probably doesn't even know about us or our return here." Stefan reasoned, though both he and Damon knew that it was more of a desperate hope than anything else.

"So what are we going to do- walk on eggshells, terrified of if and when he realizes that there are vampires in the town that his daughter currently lives! I don't know about you Stefan, but that is not how I want to live my life. He has to die."

Stefan laughed at Damon's plan, "Are you actually suggesting we hunt somebody whose day job it is to hunt us?"

"No, okay. I don't know what the hell to do!" Damon exclaimed, "This is bad, Stefan. I have a migraine- I don't get migraines." He stated, massaging his head with his hands.

"Look, like you said, he isn't part of the founders council- there is no way he would know about the vampire attacks, so we're safe. By Peyton's own admission, she only sees him months at a time. There is no point worrying about this being an issue just yet."

Damon nodded, suddenly wanting a drink a lot stronger than just bourbon. "You're right" He sighed, feeling himself relax slightly, thinking about Stefan's words and realizing that he had a point.

"Did you find out anything new at the library?" Stefan asked, hoping for some good news.

Damon clenched his jaw, readying himself for the violent reaction that would ensue after Stefan found out about his day "Peyton is allergic to dark chocolate."

"What?" Stefan exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise.

"I know- ridiculous, right? Can you imagine never having eaten-" he began before Stefan interrupted him.

"I thought you said you were going to stay away from her!" Stefan said, knowing full well that he shouldn't be surprised at Damon not following through with what he said. "She is a vampire hunter's daughter- now isn't the time to select her as your latest form of entertainment. You are not that stupid!"

"Gosh, thank you Stefan." Damon responded sarcastically, "it was before I knew he was a hunter and she was at the library-what was I meant to do, just ignore her?"

"Yes!" Stefan shouted, shaking his head in a disapproving manner.

"Relax dad, I'm done. I'll stay away from her." He said, disguising the tinge of sadness in his voice. Stefan examined Damon's face, frowning, unsure of the emotion Damon had for a fleeting moment on his face. Stefan had to admit that his brother was extremely good at disguising his emotions for the most part, considering that he rarely got upset, the only other emotions Damon experienced: anger, vengefulness, jealousy all seemed to melt into one. But he also knew his brother; Damon didn't do emotional attachments; physical attachments, sure, as they were always certain to end, which is how Damon wanted it. But Stefan knew the only part of Damon that was capable of love died when Katherine died. The girl was a fascination; he reasoned to himself, he couldn't possibly care about her.

"Aren't you late?" Damon asked, interrupting Stefan's thoughts; at Stefan's questioning face, Damon continued "Forbes' party? I'm surprised Elena hasn't rung you already to see where you are." As if on cue, Stefan's phone began to vibrate "That was perfect." Damon grinned, walking away, "don't stay out too late young man," he joked back to Stefan, walking to the fridge for a hit from his own local blood bank.

….

"Oh my god! Why won't they go away?" Damon growled running to the front door for the fifth time that night. In the time since Stefan had left for Caroline's party, Damon had come to realize that he _hated _Halloween. Four sets of trick or treaters demanding chocolates from him. By the second set of children he would open the door, allow the blood to rush to his face and let the very convincing vampire face do all the talking as he watched the kids run away from him as fast as they could. _Well, maybe that part of Halloween is entertaining,_ he thought to himself.

He swung the door open violently, preparing to the scare the hell out of a bunch of pre-teens and frowned when he found Peyton on the other side of the door. "Peyton" he breathed her name.

"Is nobody just happy to see me?" Peyton asked, laughing nervously. At Damon's continued silence Peyton whispered "well, it wasn't funny when you said it either…" Peyton stared past Damon's shoulder into the inviting warmth of the house, pulling the jacket tighter around her body as the cold winds blew stronger around her. "Can I…" She began, gesturing to the inside of the house, waiting anxiously for his response.

Damon moved aside, allowing Peyton to brush past him, walking into the boarding house and looking around curiously. Damon shut the door and turned to find Peyton facing him, playing with her watch clasp nervously. She looked down at her feet, staring at the straps on her converse as she began "It's Luke's birthday."

Looking up from the wooden floors to Damon, she saw his confused face, and expanded "Lucas…The male Katherine." She finished, knowing it would register with him who she meant.

His mouth formed an "oh", quickly realizing why she had been so moody today. "Come inside" he said, walking into the parlour, as she followed behind him silently.

"I was angry and I took it out on you and that wasn't fair" Peyton started, taking a seat on the edge of the sofa, tentatively placing her bag next to her.

Damon nodded, walking over to stand by the fireplace, folding his arms across his body. "Is that your idea of an apology?"

Peyton let out a small laugh, leaning back comfortably into the sofa, "don't push it, Salvatore." He smiled.

"You want something to eat?" Damon offered.

"I'm good, thanks." She smiled shaking her head. She looked around the room, from the grand staircase to the ornately decorated furniture it definitely wasn't what she expected. "You know, I wouldn't have figured this is where you would live. I had you down as more of a bachelor pad kind of guy."

"You should see my bedroom", Damon responded, smirking as Peyton scowled at his deliberate choice of words.

"Do you ever stop?"

He shrugged carelessly, dismissing her question "I am what I am- I make no excuses for it."

This was no shock to Peyton. "Is Stefan at Caroline's party?" Peyton asked, knowing that the two of them lived together, through Caroline.

"Yeah- Stefan's a regular party animal." He responded jokingly, pouring himself a drink, feeling the bourbon burn its way down his throat.

"Your invite get lost in the mail?" She asked rhetorically, hoping he would shed some light on the reason for Caroline's less than friendly attitude to Damon.

Damon snorted, "A Halloween party with Forbes and my brother- as fun as that sounds, I'm going to pass…" _Apparently the feeling is mutual on Damon's side as well. _Peyton realized.

Peyton laughed, "And a night in by yourself _is _you having fun." She quipped.

"Oh yeah, what do you normally do on Halloween then?" He challenged her, quickly forgetting the significance of the day for her.

The smile from her face was quickly replaced by a frown, absent-mindedly thinking back to what she would be doing if she was at home right now. Seeing Peyton's expression, he quickly scolded himself at his stupidity. He went to sit over to the other side of the sofa that Peyton was sitting on, her bag and the distance a clear barrier between the two of them. He thought to himself how to break the silence and interrupt her from her, what he figured, would be depressing thoughts, before finally speaking "Lucas is a stupid name."

She looked at him smiling politely, though the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Because Salvatore is such a suave name." She replied her voice and eyes lacking the normal spark he had grown accustomed to. She tilted her head in Damon's direction, "Thank you."

Damon smiled back at her, as Peyton glanced towards him noticing his ring. "Stefan has one as well, doesn't he?" She said pointing to his hands.

"Yeah, I don't know if you noticed but you also have these things- they are called fingers." Damon responded sarcastically.

"Shut up smart-ass." She bit back. "I meant your ring." She corrected herself.

He played with the ring, running it up and down his finger, subconsciously, "It's a family thing." Damon answered vaguely.

"You don't really strike me as a family guy. Can I see it?" Peyton asked; her curiosity piqued at his unwillingness to expand any more.

"Why are you so interested in it?" He questioned her, his suspicions getting the better of him. He narrowed his eyes, "What's so special about the ring? Something you want to tell me?" He asked- cursing himself at how much trust he had placed her. He had just found out her father was a vampire hunter, of course she was suddenly interested in a ring that meant that he could walk in the day. Before he could continue, Peyton interjected.

"It was just a question! I mean, just yesterday you were asking me about this" He said, jerking up her wrist violently, "it's not as if I gave you the Spanish Inquisition!" She exclaimed, irritated at his unexpected mood swing. "I mean _geez_, Damon." She finished, her anger slowly subsiding.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" He said, speaking over her, hastily apologizing. "I guess I'm not having the best day today either." Damon explained, hoping to calm Peyton down. Peyton considered for a moment, before accepting his apology.

"I guess jewellery is a taboo topic with us then." She laughed, trying to lighten the mood. He stared at her, before slowly taking the ring off and handing it to Peyton. "Just be careful with it." He warned her, resisting the urge to take it off her, his finger feeling bare without the ring her had been wearing for more than a century.

She moved the ring around in her fingers, looking at what she assumed to be an heirloom on the blue stone before giving it back to Damon. "It's uh… pretty." She finished, widening her eyes.

"Yeah, well, you get used to it." He explained, letting out a breath that he didn't know that he was holding in, once the ring was safely back on his finger. "So I have a question for you." Damon began.

"You want a prize?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Damon laughed, "Why did you come here? I thought you said if you wanted someone to talk to you would see Caroline. I think it's pretty clear that I don't do sympathy- so why come to me?" He questioned her.

She shook her head, answering truthfully, "I have no idea."

Damon nodded, accepting her answer, when his facial expression suddenly more serious "Stefan's back."

"And you know that…" Peyton began.

"I can hear him, driving up." Damon explained quickly.

"Because of your super spidey sense?" Peyton asked incredulously.

"Yeah something like that." He responded, quickly brushing aside her comment. "Look, Stefan doesn't exactly approve of…" He trailed unsure of how to finish the sentence. _Me flirting with the vampire hunter's daughter_? It sounded as ridiculous in his head as it did if he said it out loud.

Peyton looked at Damon, her eyes imploring his for an answer. When he remained silent, she finished the sentence for him "you bringing girls back to the house?" _Unlikely._ "You dating girls?" _Again unlikely. _"Or you dating _me_?" His head shot up to look at her, confirming that she was right, causing her to scoff in response.

"I can't go into this right now." He answered hurriedly, getting up from the sofa, looking out the window to see Stefan had just parked the car. "Look, I'm just going to deal with him and I'll be right back" He continued, rushing out the house, leaving Peyton sat on the couch dumbfounded.

"Little brother- shock, horror; you managed to stay out partying all of three hours." He said, looking at his watch.

"Yeah, well I wasn't exactly in a party mood after everything you just told me." Stefan explained, yawning.

"Are you ever in a party mood?" Damon asked rhetorically, his mouth curling into a smile when Stefan glared at him.

"How was your night?" Stefan asked, reaching in his pocket to pull out his keys.

Damon thought for a minute, before replying, "I do not like Halloween. Since when did children going to strangers houses asking for candy become a treasured national holiday? But it doesn't matter, I handled it."

"Please tell me you did not-" Stefan began.

"Relax, they are all alive, though there was this one_ really _annoying kid that I swear I could just…" Damon began standing directly in the front of the door.

"I'm sure this is a really fascinating story, but will you let me go inside while you tell it?" Stefan asked.

Damon was about to argue when he heard a door inside the house shut and realized that Peyton had left. He sighed, moving aside to let Stefan open the door and walked over to where she had been sat as Stefan went to the kitchen. On the table by the sofa was a folded up piece of paper with the words "As requested..." Unfolding the paper, he looked down to see a black-and-white image of himself staring back at him. The picture was a close-up of his face, from the library, that he assumed; she must have drawn from memory. "Not bad." He whispered to himself. With that, he folded the paper back up, careful not to crease it, he walked up to his room, smiling.

* * *

**Authors Note: Sooo what did you think of Peyton's family thing. I hope nobody is dissapointed and I'm wishing everyone is thinking wow that is a really good twist, lol. Either way, I tried to listen to reviewers and explained most of it in this chapter, but I have left a little bit out about her family history so there is still some suspense. I will explain more in the next few chapters, so I hope you guys don't think I brushed over it. Finally, reviews are loved (which is my idea of subtle hinting) and I will probably respond to everyone's reviews in the next chapter. So, to conclude, I hope you liked the chapter!**


	6. You're keeping me up all night Part 1

**Authors Note: I do not own the song Up All Night, which the chapter title is taken from. Sorry for the late update. As you can see, this chapter and the next one is a two-parter (and it's my longest chapter yet-yay!). It is kind of meant to take part over one night, but I have to do all the pre-stuff unfortunately, but the rest of it takes place over the one night. OK, enough of me talking- enjoy...**

* * *

Peyton sat at the desk, with her legs rested on the table, whilst flicking through the magazine in front of her, tossing it aside once she had got to the end of it and moving onto the next one on the pile. She looked at the clock hung up on the wall, telling her that it was now 11.45 and let out a deep sigh, wondering how much longer she would have to wait. She looked up hopefully when she saw Caroline stir in her bed, only for her to turn over and bury her head into the pillow. Peyton rolled her eyes and went back to the magazine, wondering if she instead should have brought a novel or a canvas and art materials to complete masterpiece; she definitely would have had the time to do either in the time she had been waiting for Caroline to wake up. She stretched her legs across the desk, positioning herself more comfortably in her seat when she accidentally hit a candle, causing it to fall to the floor, making a loud thump noise in the process. Caroline lifted her head up from the pillow, looking over to where the noise had come from, her eyes readjusting to the light, as she noticed Peyton sitting guiltily at the desk, biting her lip.

"Peyton?" She mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "How long have you been here?"

"Since about 9.00" Peyton answered, picking her legs up from the table. At Caroline's long, exhausted groan, Peyton continued, "rough night?"

"I am never having alcohol ever again." Caroline muttered, doubling over the pillow and adjusting the covers so she could see Peyton.

"Yeah, yeah- just you wait till the next party" Peyton replied, not believing her for a second. Caroline was about to argue, until she realized she didn't have the energy to do so- that and the fact that Peyton had a point. "Your mom wasn't here when I got in." Peyton said, piling up the magazines once again.

"Early shift." Caroline responded simply. "I think I'm having some kind of flashback of her coming into my room at 6am, telling me to make sure the house was tidy by the time she got back in the evening." She yawned, her eyes watering.

"Well, I guess it's your lucky day- because I was feeling generous this morning and figured you might be down and troubled and need a helping hand." Peyton said. At Caroline's look of confusion, Peyton began again, "James Taylor-You've got a friend?"

"Please" Caroline replied, lifting her hands up, as if to beg her, "no song references this early in the morning!"

"Right." She agreed. "Anyway, my point was I tidied the house- the decorations are in a box in the kitchen. I also brought you these." Peyton finished, lifting up the pile of magazines that she had been browsing through since she had finished cleaning up the house. "I opened a couple of them, but only because I didn't know you were going to be asleep for so long." Peyton explained, putting them back on the desk.

"Why? What have you done?" She asked suspiciously, raising her eyebrows and sitting up a little more in her bed.

Peyton shrugged, "Well, I felt bad about not coming to your party yesterday, so I thought I would make it up to you."

"Peyton, you didn't have to do that." Caroline smiled, touched and surprised at Peyton's unexpected act of kindness. "You were sick- that's not your fault."

Peyton looked down, trying to hide the guilt on her face. "Yeah about that, I wasn't exactly sick." Peyton answered sheepishly, feeling bad about lying to her friend, who had been nothing but kind and sincere to her.

"You weren't?" Caroline asked, sitting up in the bed, her head resting against the pillow she propped up against the wall.

"Yeah, I'm sorry-I just really wasn't in a socialising mood yesterday." Peyton explained her eyes avoiding Caroline's, worried of her reaction.

"Oh, okay. Can I ask why?" Caroline asked tentatively.

"It's a long story" Peyton deflected.

"I'm hung over Peyton, it's not as if I've got any major plans today apart from staying in my bedroom and avoiding doing _anything_ that requires effort." Caroline explained, causing Peyton to smile.

Peyton moved over to the bed, lying down next Caroline, looking up at the ceiling. "I guess it starts with this guy." Peyton began.

Caroline rolled her eyes and smiled, "doesn't it always?" She asked rhetorically, to which Peyton let out a short laugh.

….

"Stefan, we need to talk." Damon stated, walking into Stefan's room without invitation. "Elena." He nodded, acknowledging Elena's presence in the room.

"OK" Stefan agreed, unsure what to expect. "Is that about Peyton-?" He began, but soon saw Damon shake his head.

"No. Elena, if you could just give me a minute with my brother that would be _great_." Damon widened his eyes, not a hint of politeness in his voice.

"Does she have to-?" Stefan began again before Damon interrupted him.

"Yes, Stefan, she does. So, Elena…" Damon answered, gesturing towards the door, his patience wearing thin. The brunette looked between the two of them, before nodding and getting up and leaving the room, closing the door behind her, wondering what Damon needed to so desperately tell Stefan.

"Liz came to see me this morning- told me she had to show me something and that I had to come with her." Damon began to explain, waiting for Stefan to respond.

"What did she want to show you?" Stefan asked, frowning.

"A body." Damon answered simply; Stefan's eyes widening in surprise. "Yeah. She wanted to show me some woman's body that her deputies found last night- with bite marks on the neck and wrist, _completely _drained of blood." Before Stefan could respond, Damon began again, "and before you jump onto the entirely predictable, 'let's blame Damon' bandwagon, it wasn't me."

"Are you sure? I mean let's face it Damon, it's not as if you would be able to name all of the girls that you have killed." Stefan thought aloud, unwilling to believe the alternative if it wasn't Damon that had killed the girl.

"Two things- firstly, why would I ever _need _to name all the girls I've killed?" Damon began, as if it was the most stupid thing Stefan had ever said. "And secondly, I haven't killed anyone in a depressingly long time- it is a worrying moment when you think you are becoming your brother." Damon grimaced. "Besides, if you saw the way whoever it was left that body, I hope you wouldn't think it was me- it was an insult to all who call themselves vampires." Stefan rolled his eyes; only Damon would glorify being a vampire, as if it were some exclusive profession, only the best could be a part of. "So, now we've established that I wasn't the one responsible for such sloppy workmanship, how about we get back to the problem at hand? That's to say-"

"There is another vampire in town." Stefan concluded, finishing Damon's sentence.

"Bingo." Damon replied, sitting down on the bed as Stefan began to rub his eyes, looking down at the floor; an action Damon knew meant that Stefan was anxious.

"Do the council have any idea who-?" Stefan began, before Damon cut him off.

"Not a clue." He answered.

Stefan looked up to Damon, shaking his head "Why did Liz come to you with this?"

"Well, ever since I staked Lexi to dust…" Damon began, suddenly stopping mid-sentence at the angry glare Stefan sent his way. "Sorry, didn't realize that was still a raw wound." He apologized, with, if Stefan wasn't mistaken, what seemed to be a hint of sincerity in his voice. "Point is, I'm the only person on their vampire killing council that has actually killed a vampire. So, naturally, she wanted my expertise." He finished arrogantly.

"What expertise, Damon? It was one vampire-and even then, you knew who the vampire was. It's not as if you can sniff vampire's out- you have no way of knowing who it is." Stefan shouted; irritated at the lack of concern Damon was showing to the present situation.

"As cool as sniffing out vampire's sounds, I already have a way of finding out who Mystic Fall's newest supernatural resident is." He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the Gilbert pocket watch that had caused all the trouble back in 1864.

"Where did you get that?" Stefan asked raising his eyebrows.

Before Damon could answer, Elena came back into the room, standing by the door. "Stefan, I'm going to get going. I said I would meet up with Bonnie." Stefan nodded, walking across the room to where Elena stood, leaning down to kiss her.

Damon rolled his eyes and waited a few seconds before he cleared his throat- Stefan and Elena slowly breaking apart. "That's great; I really needed to test my gag reflex this early in the day." Damon said to himself, but loud enough for the pair to hear him. Elena threw Damon a dirty look, as Stefan looked at Elena telling her that he would call her later. Once she left, Stefan turned around to face his brother, Damon continuing the conversation as if there had been no interruption. "Liz gave it to me- reward for good behaviour, I guess." Damon answered, playing with the compass, throwing it in the air as if it were some sort of toy.

"How could she give it to you if it goes off in the presence of vampires?" Stefan asked, confused at how Damon's identity could remain hidden. "And how would you be able to use it to find whoever this new vampire is if it's going to be going off while you are holding it?" Stefan asked, doubting all of the flaws in Damon's master plan.

Damon simply shrugged off Stefan's first question, explaining how he had got Liz to leave at the police desk for him to pick up later, "the fact that the idiot at the desk that handed it to me had no idea what the flapping arrow meant was just luck on my part. Now your second question required a lot more cunning intelligence on my part." Damon smirked, his face falling at Stefan's less than enthusiastic expression. Realizing he would get no encouragement from Stefan, he continued on "I attached a device to this device," he started, lifting up the pocket watch, "sort of like a beeper that will go off when the watch is flaring. So I leave the pocket watch somewhere, vampire goes past it, I get a message to my phone that has been synchronized with the beeper telling me the idiot vampire is where the pocket watch is. I find the vampire; stake the vampire, et cetera, et cetera."

Stefan raised his eyebrows, completely impressed at how Damon's plan might actually work, but not entirely believing that it was all Damon's idea. "You're telling me that you did all of this by yourself."

"Yes!" Damon exclaimed, soon changing his answer when he heard Stefan scoff, knowing that he wouldn't believe it. "No. I compelled some nerd to help me. Though to be fair, I don't think he needed all that much compulsion if you get what I mean. "You should have seen his face getting all excited about the different theories he had to find a way around the problem." Damon thought back to how the boy's eyes glistened over when he finally thought of the beeper idea. "Some kids really do have no life." He said, shaking his head. "Hell, I felt so bad for the kid that I even left him a little thank you present."

"Damon, how about we get back to the problem at hand." Stefan suggested, amazed at how quickly Damon could get off-track, desperately not wanting to know what kind of a thank you gift Damon would give to somebody.

"Sure." Damon agreed. "Only thing I need to worry about is where to put the pocket watch-it obviously needs to be somewhere public, because this guy is _hungry_ judging by how many missing people there are. Basically anywhere this guy could be on the prowl- parties, town gatherings, you get the point."

"Wait, you keep saying 'he'- what makes you think the vampire is a man?"

"How about the fact all his victims, bar two, are female? Male vamps tend to go after women, female vamps tend to go after men- has all that animal blood actually killed off your natural vampire instinct?" Damon asked rhetorically, shocked at the fact Stefan had even asked him such a stupid question.

"OK, so what's the plan?" Stefan asked, ignoring Damon's rant.

"I'm going to put the pocket watch at the entrance of the Mystic Grill and wait." Damon answered with ease.

"That's your plan? Sit in a bar, drinking, waiting for trouble to come and find you?" At Damon's nod, Stefan scoffed, "So basically, no different from what you do any other day."

…..

"So you're in love with this guy-Lucas?" Caroline asked, having finally heard the whole story of why Peyton had moved to Mystic Falls in the first place. At Peyton's confirmation Caroline asked the one thing that was still confusing her. "Why did you leave then? Why didn't you stay and fight for him?"

Peyton let out a long sigh, before answering- she had asked herself that same question when she was deciding whether she was making the decision of whether or not she should leave. "I already did that once-fight for him, and like I told you, it didn't exactly work out well for any of us. And Brooke's my best friend, and Lucas is in love with her. And besides all of those reasons, which I know sound like excuses for just running away, I didn't leave because of Lucas or Brooke- I left for myself. I just- God, I'm probably not even making sense right now." She laughed weakly.

Her blonde friend smiled and shook her head, "No, it makes sense. I guess I just don't understand why you felt like you couldn't talk to me earlier."

Peyton lifted her shoulders up, "I've heard the story Caroline, and I know that it doesn't exactly paint me in the best light." She said, looking down, playing the white duvet covers.

"What, you think I would judge you? We all make mistakes, Peyton. Who am I to judge you?"

Peyton smiled back at Caroline. "Thank you." She said- her tone heartfelt.

"You're welcome." Caroline replied, smiling. "Now, I should probably brush my teeth, as I'm guessing I have pretty bad hangover-y breath." Caroline said, jumping up from the bed energetically.

"Thank god! Your breath truly smelt terrible." Peyton joked, letting out a squeal when Caroline threw a pillow her way. As she made her way to the en-suite bathroom, Caroline shouted back to Peyton "So, what _did_ you do yesterday then?"

"Not much," Peyton answered, getting up from under the covers and crossing her legs, sitting in the centre of the bed. "Spent the morning drawing in the library, -though that wasn't really helpful seeing every single one of my drawings ended up being of Lucas. I ended up seeing Damon there and biting his head off."

Caroline gargled out the water in her mouth before spitting it out into the sink. Frowning, she stuck her head out from the bathroom door to her bedroom. "You saw Damon… in a library? Was he lost?" She asked.

Peyton shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know- he was doing some research on the town history- don't ask me why."

Caroline thought for a minute before walking out the bathroom, still brushing her teeth, walking back and forth in her room. "Weird-I saw him yesterday as well. He came here asking to see my mom." She explained, shaking her head and going back to the bathroom, spitting out the rest of the toothpaste from her mouth and washing her face. "Did you guys talk?" She asked from the bathroom.

"More like me shouting at him- I wasn't exactly in a good mood yesterday."

Caroline walked out of the bathroom, moving over to the desk and picking up about a dozen different magazines that Peyton had brought her. "Poor Damon." She said, thinking for a minute before saying "I wish I was there."

Peyton laughed along with Caroline, before saying "I didn't ask how your night went."

Caroline thought for a moment, "It was the usual- Tyler hooking up with some random girl, Stefan and Elena being all loved-up and adorable" she said, rolling her eyes, "and the local sheriff, aka my mom, coming in saying they had noise complaints from neighbours."

"That's the usual?" Peyton asked, raising her eyebrow.

Caroline shrugged, "Pretty much. Are you hungry? I am _starving_!" Caroline asked, not waiting for a reply before she made her way to the kitchen, with Peyton following close behind. Caroline suddenly turned around, stopping Peyton in her tracks. "I'll cook- a hangover _and _food poisoning, I'm assuming, is not a good combination." Caroline said, smiling when Peyton smacked her head playfully.

"So exactly how bad do you feel about not coming yesterday?" Caroline asked, knowing that she was pushing her luck, considering Peyton had already tidied the entire house for her, but figuring she might as well give it a try. At Peyton's cautious glance, Caroline continued. "See, there's this school trip-well I guess it's not really a trip-it's only to this really large field we sometimes play home matches in. It's basically to watch this meteor shower. You get the next day off school, which is a plus. I was meant to go with Bonnie, but she bailed last minute and Elena isn't going, so…" Caroline trailed off.

"Okay…What's the catch?" Peyton asked, narrowing her eyes.

"The meteor shower may be a little late." Caroline answered vaguely, knowing she would have to tell Peyton eventually.

"How late?" Peyton asked, knowing Caroline had to be hiding something.

"2.30 in the morning late." Seeing Peyton's eyes widen in surprise, Caroline quickly began talking again. "But, remember we do get a whole day off school the next day. And we also get extra credit." Caroline reminded her, hoping that would sway her answer.

Peyton considered, "When is it?" She asked slowly.

"Wednesday, which means we get Thursday off. And before you say anything, I know your timetable by heart-you don't have art, only double History and Math, so plus" Caroline smiled cheerily, whilst putting her thumbs up.

Peyton let out a long, overdrawn sigh, knowing she would regret what she was about to say. "Fine, I'll go."

Caroline sprung into Peyton's arms, pulling her into a hug, "Yay! I promise we are going to have so much fun!" Peyton nodded her enthusiasm in this 'class trip' not nearly as great as Caroline's.

…

"Any luck?" Stefan asked, sitting down in the empty seat next to Damon, having decided he would check in on the progress of the mission during lunch. It had been the fourth day of Damon's "stakeout" and so far, his plan had proved to be unsuccessful. The first few nights, Damon would only come after sunrise, assuming the vampire wouldn't be able to walk in the day. However, after the third night and still no vampire, Damon had begun to come during the day as well, staying all the way through till closing.

"Well, apart from my phone informing me of mine, and now your presence- nothing." Damon answered, putting his phone back onto the bar, next to his drink and fries. Whoever this mystery vampire was, he clearly must have been a reformed alcoholic before his transformation, Damon had reasoned.

"Ever consider you should change tactics?" Stefan asked, aware whoever the vampire was, he wasn't coming to the bar.

So far, Damon had found his whole mission extremely boring- when he found out another vampire was in town, there was an aspect of excitement at the prospect of being the one to find and kill them. But so far, his mission was yielding no results and his whole hanging around the bar idea was not as fun as it sounded; if he saw any good-looking girls, it wasn't as if he could go anywhere with them as he was restricted to staying in the bar, he had more or less eaten every meal on the menu twice over and even the bourbon was beginning to lose its appeal. He had hoped that maybe he might at least see Peyton, but she, like the vampire, was a no-show. Part of him thought that maybe she was avoiding him since what had happened the last time they saw each other. Not that he should care, considering he was meant to be avoiding her too. Either way, with no vampire to stake, no Peyton to spend time with (at this point he would even take the bitchy Peyton that just shouts at him); his week was looking to be very uneventful.

"Damon?" Stefan called his name again, taking him away from his thoughts. He looked up in confusion, not having registered Stefan's last question. "Maybe we should be trying new tactics." Stefan repeated.

Damon sighed, "Maybe." Before he could say anymore, Liz came over, asking to speak to Damon in private. Stefan moved over to one of the available booths, far enough for Liz to speak freely, but still within close enough distance to make out what the two of them were saying.

"Still no luck with the device?" She asked, sitting down in the chair Stefan had just left. Damon shook his head, preparing himself to have the same conversation that he had just had with Stefan. "You might have a bit more luck tomorrow."

Damon frowned, "What's tomorrow- is there some big vampire convention in town that I don't know about?" He asked jokingly. He could practically hear Stefan's eyes rolling and at Liz's straight face, he let out a short laugh, more to himself than anybody else. _Can nobody take a joke around here?_

Liz continued "Students at Mystic Fall's High are going to be observing a meteor shower that is coming through town."

"What?" Damon exclaimed, "Couldn't you get them to close it down- that's practically be a hotspot for a bloodthirsty vampire!"

"Hey, it's not my choice. I spoke to the school about cancelling it, but I have no jurisdiction over what trips they plan. I can't exactly use the animal attack angle, because animals wouldn't be coming this far into the town. I have _absolutely _no say in this." She finished, having spent the entire morning with the principal, trying to get him to cancel the trip.

Damon nodded in understanding. "It's fine; the vampire wasn't even coming here anyway, maybe a large public space at night might work." Damon said, thinking maybe this was a blessing in disguise. Once Liz had explained that she would only have a few deputies on duty in the town square, so as not to attract attention, she left. Stefan took back his seat, looking at his brother.

"You really think he'll show?"

Damon shrugged, "No missing bodies in a couple of days, our boy must be getting hungry. He'll show." He answered confidently, already mentally picturing the field and thinking where the best place would be to put the pocket watch; though, he had to admit, open spaces weren't the best places as there were many points of entry.

"I'll sign up- there's probably still a few spaces free." Stefan offered, getting up to leave. "I'm going to head back."

"Yeah, I'm leaving too- the guy is clearly not coming." Damon replied, gulping down the rest of his bourbon. "I guess tomorrow is do or die."

…..

"Camping?" Peyton asked, dropping her bag down onto the floor, looking out across the open field at the masses of tents that had been set out. "Caroline," she said, turning to her blonde friend who was avoiding her eyes, "you didn't say anything about there being camping."

"Didn't I?" She asked, laughing nervously before lying, "I swear I told you."

"Caroline- you don't camp!" Peyton exclaimed.

"Did I not mention we get a day off school tomorrow?" Caroline asked rhetorically. At Peyton's eye roll, she took her friends hand "Come on, I got Tyler and Matt to save us the _best_ tent."

"Oh joy, that makes all of this worth it." Peyton deadpanned, following Caroline as if she were walking to her death.

The large field itself, was square; two sides were bordered by an opening of trees, one side led to the car park and the other was set against a large metal fence. The field was scattered with three dozen, or so, tents- the centre of the field had four different telescopes.

After they had registered with the teachers from their school, they went off in search of Matt and Tyler and soon bumped into Matt.

"Hey Caroline." He smiled, his eyes lingering on her a little longer than was normal for two friends, Peyton suspected. "Peyton." He nodded in her direction, to which she smiled back politely. She then turned to her friend, who was also just staring at Matt, smiling.

"Hey." Caroline said; neither Matt nor Caroline able to take their eyes off of each other. _Apparently this moment is only awkward for me._ Peyton thought to herself.

After what seemed like a lifetime of just the time of them staring at each other, she was about to make an excuse to leave when Matt spoke again. "Let me show you to your tent-it's just over here." He said, walking away, with Caroline following, still caught in a daze. Only when they got to their tent and Matt walked away did Caroline snap from her trance. Peyton looked at her friend with expectant eyes, but at Caroline's lack of explanation, she asked, "What was all that about-with you and Matt?"

"Oh you noticed that?" Caroline asked, letting out a deep sigh.

"Caroline, I'm pretty sure the blind nun's half way across the world noticed that." Peyton answered, unsure how anybody could miss the tension between the two of them.

"I don't know... At the Halloween party, there was little moment where we almost kissed." She explained, dropping down the overnight bag she had packed for her and Peyton on the floor.

"You almost kissed and you didn't say anything?" Peyton asked, quickly apologizing at how loud she was being.

"Yeah, well I was really drunk- you saw how hung over I was the morning after, so I figured it was just me reading too much into it. But then I noticed he was sending me eye vibes pretty much all night." She recalled, thinking back to what little she remembered about that night.

Peyton grinned, "What the hell are _eye vibes_?" She asked, trying to stop herself from laughing.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Eye vibes are kind of the way Damon is looking at you right now." She said, titling her head in Damon's direction, causing Peyton to turn her head around just in time to see Damon turn his head away from her. Caroline smiled as Peyton tried to hide the blush slowly creeping up her cheeks.

"Yeah well, I'm not exactly talking to Damon right now." Peyton told Caroline, mentally scolding herself for noticing how attractive he looked tonight.

"Why not?" Caroline frowned, as she followed Peyton into the tent.

…

"It's rude to eavesdrop." Stefan said, walking up behind Damon, looking over to where Damon's eyes were, as he watched Peyton and Caroline walk into their tent.

"Who's eavesdropping? I'm looking for the vampire." Damon lied, irritated at Stefan coming up to him at the most inopportune moment.

"Unless the vampire is a pretty, curly-haired blonde teenager, I think we're good." Stefan replied.

Damon looked towards him, justifying himself, "I am allowed to look, Stefan. It's not a crime." Before Stefan could say anything else, Damon made an excuse to leave.

….

"I mean it's weird, right? That's not just me- it is actually _weird._" Peyton asked.

Caroline nodded, "Yeah, it's definitely strange. I mean when me and Damon were-" She stopped as Peyton raised her eyebrows in shock, realizing what she had just said.

"You and Damon?" Peyton was surprised she hadn't worked it out already-It would explain the more than hostile feeling they had to one another.

Caroline shook her head, desperate to explain before Peyton jumped to any assumptions. "It was barely anything! He had just moved here and it was practically just sex." Caroline said, realizing that didn't sound any better.

"Wow… I never would have thought that the two of you-" She trailed off, lost in her own thoughts.

"Anyway," Caroline said, hoping to move on, "my point was, Stefan never really had a massive problem with us-or he at least didn't say anything."

Peyton put her head in her hands. "It doesn't make sense though. I mean after the first time Stefan warned me to stay away from him, he apologized and said that it wasn't his place." Peyton sighed. "Not that I care- it's not as if I want Damon to take me to the school dance. I don't want to date him, I _definitely _don't want to fall in love with him, hell I'm pretty sure most of the time I don't even _like _the guy!"

Caroline remained silent as Peyton continued her rant; only when Peyton paused for breath did Caroline ask, "What was the second time then?" At Peyton's confused face, she said "You said the _first _time Stefan warned you- when was the second time?"

Peyton thought for a minute before realizing what Caroline was asking. "I went to Damon and Stefan's house the night I saw him in the library." At Caroline's expression, Peyton quickly backtracked "It wasn't like that! I just went to drop off a drawing of him, kind of as a peace-offering for being such a bitch that day."

Caroline shook her head in confusion. "You drew him? I thought you said everything that you drew ended up being of Lucas" She said, remembered what Peyton had told her earlier that week.

"It did, they were… Except that one…" Peyton said, seeing the contradiction in her own words.

"So you drew Damon, even though pretty much everything else you drew was of Lucas?"

Peyton nodded, noting Caroline's facial expression, though she couldn't gauge what the blonde was thinking. "What?" Peyton asked.

Caroline shrugged her shoulders. "Far be it for me to push anybody _closer _to Damon…"

"I'm sensing a 'but'" Peyton said when Caroline didn't finish her sentence.

"But you spend an entire day thinking about a guy that you love- only be able to draw that guy. Then you manage to draw Damon." Peyton remained quiet, unsure how to respond, "Now, I'm not saying that you're in love with Damon, but that's got to mean something, you know? It's _got_ to mean _something._" She repeated, her words holding more feeling the second time round.

Peyton exhaled deeply, wanting to disagree with Caroline, but knowing deep down that she was right. At that moment, Matt popped his head through their tent entrance. "Hey, Caroline can I speak to you?" He asked, looking between the two girls, sat down on their sleeping bags.

Caroline looked to Peyton, unsure if Peyton wanted to talk more, but at Peyton's nod of permission, Caroline smiled at Matt, as he came into the tent. "I'll just go for a walk." Peyton said, excusing herself and giving an anxious Caroline a smile of encouragement before stepping outside and zipping up the tent.

She looked down at her watch, telling her that it was only 10pm; she would have to wait another 4 and half hours before the meteor shower and she figured she should probably give Matt and Caroline at least half an hour to talk through their issues. She walked to the edge of the field, deciding that she would just walk around until Caroline and Matt were done talking.

Gazing up at the sky, the moon was nowhere in sight and all she could see was a vast expanse of stars. "Show's not for another couple of hours." Damon said from behind her, leaning against the metal fence, waiting for her to turn to look at him. When she instead began to walk away, he got up to follow her. "I'm sensing that you're angry at me." Damon said, running up to walk next to her, following her pace.

"How perceptive of you." She remarked.

"I've always been told that's my best trait." He answered sarcastically.

She smiled, stopping dead in her tracks and turning to face him, "Funny, I wouldn't say _that's_ your best trait." She answered, as she began walking again, leaving him to wonder what she considered to be his best trait.

She was only walking for another minute by herself before he caught up with her again. "Your brother's watching us- I don't think he would be too pleased with you spending time with me." She told him, pointing over to where Stefan was standing watching the two of them.

Damon considered for a minute, knowing Stefan would be giving him some long overdrawn lecture the first chance he got. He shrugged, replying to Peyton "Ignore him. He's only looking at me, because he thinks my hair looks extra pretty today."

"Pretty?" Peyton laughed.

"Yeah, I'm fairly positive he's a little gay." Damon answered, knowing at this point Stefan must be listening to the conversation- if he was going to be told off later like some school boy reporting to the principal, he might as have a little fun. When he saw Stefan turn to walk away, he knew that Stefan had given up trying to warn him away, and felt he could talk more freely without prying ears.

"Damon, as much as I've missed our little talks, I really want to be left alone." Peyton said, turning to face Damon.

"Any other day I would, but it's not safe for you to be walking around at this time of night by yourself." Damon explained, knowing that it would just sound like an excuse. To be fair, it was an excuse; he did want to spend time with her, but at the same time there was a dangerous vampire on the loose and as much as she thought she didn't need saving, she wasn't safe by herself.

"Aw…How very 1950's of you- I don't need protecting!" She replied, angry and insulted at his view that she needed anybody to look out for her. "You can go now!" She shouted, after he quickened his pace to match hers.

He laughed, thinking to himself how most girls would think that a guy wanting to make sure they were safe would be sweet. _Not Peyton_. "Look, I'm not leaving you by yourself. So, you have a choice- I either walk with you, or I walk behind you. Now, personally, I'm liking the second option, as the view from behind would be pretty damn-"

"Fine!" Peyton exclaimed, not allowing him to finish whatever he was going to say. Damon was grateful of the darkness, hiding the smirk that appeared on his face; he knew that would work.

"Huh, took the words right out of my mouth!" Damon remarked, waiting for what he said to sink in before she sent a scowl his way.

"So why aren't you with the other blonde, painting each others toenails and swapping boy stories?" Damon asked.

"She and Matt are having the whole 'what are we talk?'" Peyton answered, stifling a yawn- how she was going to stay up another four hours for the damn meteor shower, she had no idea. Then she suddenly thought of a way to amuse herself and scare the hell out of Damon simultaneously; win-win. "Speaking of, what about the two of us Damon?" Peyton asked, trying to suppress the smile appearing on her face upon seeing Damon's face pale. "Where are we going, Damon?" She heard him swallow, as if unsure how to answer, and she continued. "I mean, can I call you my boyfriend? Are we going steady? Will you be my date for prom?" Peyton began to let out a barrage of questions.

Damon let out a long sigh of relief once she had finished bombarding him with the endless and, quite frankly worrying, questions. "Cute. The promise ring question was probably one too far."

Peyton nodded. "Yeah, I figured you weren't going to buy that one." She agreed. "You should have seen your face though." She smiled, tilting her head back and letting out a long, infectious laugh, causing him to smile.

Peyton turned to see Damon checking his phone. "You keep checking that phone of yours and I'm going to start to feel like I'm not enough for you." She joked.

Damon turned to face her, putting the phone back in his pocket. "You could never not be enough for me, Peyton." She knew that he could say all the right things to girls to make them go weak in the knees, but the sincerity and certainty in his response meant she couldn't help but smile.

"Not bad Salvatore."

"You know I hate when you call me Salvatore _almost _as much as you hate it when I call you sweetheart."

"I did not know that. I am so sorry…" Peyton answered, pausing before smirking, "…Salvatore."

"Touché." Damon responded, nodding his head in appreciation.

They walked in silence for another few minutes before she asked him "I know why I came- Caroline had to practically drag me here. What are you doing here? You don't exactly strike me as the star gazing type."

"It's a favour to a friend." Damon answered- this was technically true; Liz had asked for his help.

"You have friends?" Peyton asked, feigning shock. "It's funny- I've never _seen_ them before." She mused, continuing "Oh wait that's right, everybody loves you. I haven't heard a bad word said a about you." She finished, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I've got to ask you, is there anybody, _apart_ from me, that finds your dry wit and cutting sarcasm charming?"

"Well, as long as I have you..." She replied, not missing a beat.

By the time the two of them had reached the forest clearing, Damon had pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking at it once again, before putting it away. At Peyton's questioning face, he looked at her, explaining "I'm expecting a call."

"You're not going to tell me who?" She asked; at his silence she suggested "Maybe it's from Caroline." Damon raised his eyebrows in confusion. "She told me about the two of you." Peyton explained.

"Ah…" Damon said, suddenly understanding.

"Never would have pictured the two of you together." She told him; Caroline had told her briefly about the two of them, but she was still curious about their relationship, hoping Damon would elaborate further.

Damon looked to Peyton, narrowing his eyes, before smirking. "You're jealous." He said, more as a statement than a question.

"I am not jealous." Peyton denied, shaking her head as if to emphasise her point.

"You are." He said- his smile growing wider, taking clear pleasure in how uncomfortable she now felt. "It's OK." Damon continued, as if to reassure her.

"I am not-" She began, attempting to speak over Damon.

"I mean most people might find it possessive…" He said, ignoring her interruption.

"I'm not jealous!" She insisted, shouting over him.

"…But, lucky for you, you're quite sexy when you're jealous," waiting just as she had moments ago, before he finished, "sweetheart."

"You are such an ass." She grumbled, annoyed at the sudden change in roles the two of them had taken. This time, it was his turn to laugh, as she just folded her arms, rolling her eyes; clearly not amused.

"So…" He began, at her refusal to say anything, "What's my best trait?" He asked.

She scoffed "Like I'm going to tell you now."

"OK, I'll guess and you can let me know when I'm right." He said, taking her silence as a sign of agreeing. "Handsome?"

Peyton laughed, "You want your best quality to be that you're good looking?"

"It's not a _bad_ quality." He answered, shrugging his shoulders.

"It's hardly the thing that someone wants as their defining quality!"

"Ok, fine-it's not handsome." He agreed, thinking before suggesting "Caring."

Peyton let out a long, unrestrained laugh, causing her eyes to water and a tear to fall down the side of her cheek. "I don't even know how you expect me to take that one seriously!"

Damon smiled, amused by her reaction. "Intelligent."

She smiled, "You should be so lucky!"

"That's a bit mean!" Damon remarked, only slightly insulted.

"You're getting warmer." She said, starting to enjoy this game a lot more.

"Funny." Damon responded flatly.

"Oh! You were closer with 'mean'." She replied, smiling as she turned her face to see Damon roll his eyes, exhaling deeply.

As Peyton and Damon walked past a group of people, Peyton turned to look again thinking her eyes had deceived her. Standing, with two girls on either side of him was Daniel Jacobs, a guy who, though Peyton hadn't been going to Mystic Falls High that long, knew wasn't exactly popular with the ladies. As he and the two blondes on either side of him walked into a tent, he turned to Damon, giving him a quick nod before following them. Peyton turned to Damon, who was smirking at some in-joke he apparently wasn't going to let her in on, he answered vaguely "He's a uh… friend."

Peyton frowned choosing to ignore the strange exchange that had just taken place as she looked around to see they were back where they had started; surprised that they had walked the entire perimeter of the field. Damon watched her look over to where her tent was, seeing her consider her options. He could hear from where they stood that Caroline and Matt were still in the tent, but still he asked, "You want to check if you can go back in now?" He looked at her with expectant eyes, anxious of her answer.

She looked to the tent and then back at Damon. "I guess you're not the _worst _company. Besides, I'm kind of having fun insulting you." She smiled up at him.

"I'm going to pretend that sentence ended at 'I'm kind of having fun'" Damon smiled, stuffing his hands in his pockets and following her once again.

"You do that." She replied, yawning.

"God, anybody would think you've never pulled an all-nighter before."

"This will be my first." She replied, wishing she was wearing something warmer, like a coat, instead of her flimsy jacket.

"And you're sharing it with me, I'm flattered." Damon smiled.

"Yeah, well don't get too used to it- it's the only first I'm going to be sharing with you." She insisted, holding in a sharp intake of breath at the sudden gust of wind.

"We'll see…" Damon replied, completely unconvinced. "Y ou're cold." He stated, knowing that if he posed it as a question she would simply deny it. Peyton glanced sideways to see Damon beginning to take off his jacket.

"And they say chivalry is dead."

Damon laughed. "Well, in my case it actually is."

"You do realize that half of the things that you say don't _even_ make sense." She frowned, taking note that this wasn't the first cryptic comment Damon had made.

"Not to you maybe." He smiled "Take the jacket Peyton." He said, handing out his jacket for her, while she kept her arms folded across her body. "I'm not going to think any less of you- you'll still be the independent, fearless badass that doesn't need anything from anybody. You'll just be…warmer" Damon finished, raising his eyebrows at her.

Peyton took the jacket, rolling her eyes. "You're welcome!" He said as she put on the jacket and continued to walk in silence.

Peyton smiled, deciding to try again at scaring Damon. She stopped walking, standing in front of Damon, stopping him dead in his tracks. She took his hand in hers, interlocking their fingers, looking up into his eyes. "Damon, thank you. I-"

But this time, Damon put his free hand up to her face, his finger covering her mouth to silence her; immediately seeing through her obvious tactics. He then put both his hands on either side of her face, tilting his head to look at her; his eyes never leaving hers. Her hand went up to his arm, resting on his bicep; failing miserably in her attempt to free herself from his gasp as she gazed into his eyes. She looked on as she felt him closing the distance between the two of them and soon enough she was leaning into his embrace. At the last moment, with their lips inches apart, Damon moved his head away from her lips, whispering into her ear, "Peyton, know when to stop." She closed her eyes, as his warm breath tickled the nape of her neck, feeling her knees buckle slightly under her. She opened her eyes just as he kissed her gently on her cheek, smiling when he felt her grip on his arm tighten. He swept a strand of hair that fell across her eyes and began walking again, leaving her stunned on the spot.

He walked a couple of metres before he stopped, not turning his head as he waited for her to catch up with him and when she did they continued moving in silence- the only noises being the ones from the people in their tents around them. A couple of minutes passed before Peyton turned to Damon "You can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that?"

Damon laughed "Consider this payback for the other day where you practically bit my head off for no reason."

Peyton rolled her eyes in response "God- everything's _so_ overdramatic with you!"

"Ha! That's rich coming from you!" Damon countered, as she laughed.

Damon noticed Stefan standing by one of the tents, shaking his head curtly at him, wordlessly gesturing to him the answer to the question he had on his face and Stefan began to walk away. Peyton turned to watch the interaction between the two of them. "Can I ask you a question?" She asked.

He let out a long groan, "No! Our questions tend to kill the mood and I'm kinda having fun right now." Damon answered.

Peyton shook her head, smiling "And here I was about to ask you if you wanted to come back to my apartment! Ah, what can you do…" Peyton answered, resisting the urge to laugh at Damon's eyes widening.

He turned his head to face her, narrowing his eyes, thinking before calling her bluff, "You're lying."

Peyton shrugged, "I guess now you'll never know…" She replied, loving the power that she held in their conversation all of a sudden.

Damon looked down to the ground, unaware of Peyton's expression change from happiness to one of confusion, then soon after fear and anticipation. She soon realized what was happening, given only a split-second to react.

"How about we- " He began.

"Damon!" She cried.

He didn't understand what had happened at first; why she shouted his name, why she was suddenly in front of him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. But he heard her gasp, he saw her eyes widen in shock. He heard as something sharp cut through her skin, tearing through her flesh with careless ease. And the smell; the unmistakable smell of what he had grown so accustomed to over the years; what he would, on any other occasion, savour, but now found himself sickened by. The coppery taste of blood was in the air, but this time it didn't excite or thrill him; his attention focused solely on the blonde standing in front of him, slowly losing her balance. Instinctively, his arms reached out, supporting her body as she collapsed into his.

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**Authors Note: Dun, dun, dunn... OK, I know that's kind of a cliffhanger, so I'm sorryyy- will try to update veryyy soon! Thank you sooooo much to everybody who reads, and even more so, (if that's possible) to those who review! And I love reviews a lot, a lot, a lottttt (this is me hinting again- I think I'm very good at hinting). Also quick side question, what would you consider to be Damon's best quality-it's very hard to answer, trust me! Anyway, hope you liked the chapter!**


	7. You're keeping me up all night Part 2

**Authors Note: OK new chapter. I seriously apologize for the late update- it's weird, I knew everything that I wanted to happen in the chapter, but when I started writing it, the first couple of paragraphs just didn't sound right to me. I'm still not completely happy with how it turned out, but hopefully I haven't disappointed anyone and I'm really hoping that it was worth the wait. Enjoy...**

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Peyton lay on the ground, her hands clutching at a mound of dirt, forcing herself to stop from crying out in pain. Damon tilted her body forwards, seeing the sharp wooden stake embedded just above her shoulder blade; leaning her backwards, he looked at her once again with what he hoped was a look of reassurance. "That bad, huh?" Peyton choked out, knowing even before seeing Damon's facial expression the extent of the injury.

"It's nothing- barely even a scratch." Damon lied, hoping to put her mind at ease and in doing so avoid hysteria. The wound, though it was lucky that the stake had not perforated a lung, was now bleeding out profusely. As his mind began to run through the list of different options he had to try to fix the problem he noticed Peyton's breaths had become more shallow and laboured, her eyes drifting closed. "No, no… Come on, you need to stay with me. Promise me…" Damon said; his voice laced with concern. "Promise me you'll stay awake." He continued, a feeling of dread crossing through him, refusing to accept the possibility of anything worse happening. He saw her give a small nod, her eyes beginning to water.

"OK, good." Damon responded, tilting her body forward once again, more gently this time. "OK…" Damon whispered, more to himself this time. "We need to stop the bleeding." Quickly dismissing the idea to take the stake out of Peyton until he at least had some kinds of supplies to slow down the rate at which blood was pouring out of her, he pressed his hands around the wound, trying to estimate how far into her back the stake had gone.

Damon looked back at Peyton, seeing a single tear travel down her cheek, he thoughtlessly wiped it away. "Damon." Peyton croaked out, his hands cupping either side of her face. He looked at her expectantly. "Your eyes…are really blue." She sighed, smiling. Damon laughed in spite of the situation, glad that she wasn't giving him a last goodbye speech; she was still fighting, and for that he was truly thankful.

Peyton's eyes started to drift closed once again, but this time she forced them open. The only thing that reassured her was the excruciating pain; when she stopped feeling the pain, then she was dead. The pain meant that she was alive. So she clung to that feeling, hoping she would stay awake long enough to survive. She watched Damon assess the injury once again in only a number of minutes, seeing his expression darken. Both of them were suddenly brought out of their thoughts and fears by a male voice coming from a few hundred metres in front of them.

"Well, I was aiming for you but this works out pretty well. Once I kill you, I get a nice little snack for the road." The man said, addressing Damon. Peyton tried to make sense of what he was saying; he confirmed what she already knew- that he was aiming for Damon. _A snack for the road?_ She quickly dismissed that comment; clearly she must have misheard him. Though she couldn't see him clearly, she watched Damon's face register a whole host of emotions from disbelief, to confusion and then finally an anger so strong that she had never seen on him before. She whimpered slightly as Damon, moved to get up, inadvertently digging his knees into her back. And suddenly the anger disappeared from his face, as he looked down at her once again. He carefully readjusted his body, quickly apologetic before he looked up from Peyton's face once again to look into the eyes of the man that he had killed just weeks before Peyton had arrived back in Mystic Falls. "I'm going to kill you." That much Damon was absolutely certain of. "I don't know how you managed to survive, but I _promise_ you are going to wish you stayed dead." Damon stated, already mentally having thought of several different ways to make Logan suffer slowly.

To his credit, Logan just laughed off Damon's words. "Well, you're going to have to catch me first." He said, speeding off into the forest, leaving Damon watching after him, cursing to himself. He looked down at the blonde lying in his arms still bleeding out, truly torn; part of him wanted vengeance, wanting nothing more than to track Logan down and make him pay. But the other part of him knew that he couldn't leave Peyton alone, not like this. He quickly got out his phone with one hand, his other arm still supporting Peyton's cold, blood-sodden body. Dialling the number, he put the phone to his ear, waiting only a few seconds before a reply came. "I'm at the clearing of the woods. I need you to meet me there now." He hung up without waiting for a reply and looked back down at Peyton. "I'm going to be right back, OK?" He said, leaning down so his forehead was resting against hers, he closed his eyes, trying to ignore the fact that he could hear her heartbeat had slowed down considerably from a couple of minutes ago. "I'll be right back." He repeated himself, opening his eyes again, he laid a brief kiss on her forehead. "But you're going to keep your promise." He said. "Peyton!" He said a little louder this time, when she stayed quiet. "You're going to keep your promise, right?" He said, sure that his tone sounded lame and desperate. Eventually she gave out a very weak reply of "yeah". "OK." He said, nodding, he began to get up only then noticing Stefan leaning down to take his place.

He looked to his younger brother, never more grateful for Stefan being there when he needed him to be. "Take her to a tent and stay with her, try and…just make she stays awake." Damon instructed Stefan, taking one last glance at Peyton before running off into the woods, following the general direction Logan had taken.

He ran for about half a minute, before he reached the centre of the forest, waiting there in silence, listening out for any sounds that would tell him where Logan was. He didn't have to wait long before he heard some branches and twigs snap to the left of him; too loud to be an animal, when he rushed off in the direction of the sound. He stopped again, listening to the forest sounds, zoning out the sounds of the babbling people from the fields.

He sensed the attack well in advance this time, effectively swerving out of the way to miss a broken off branch aimed directly for his chest, causing Logan to run a couple more metres past Damon before he turned on his heels, facing him once again.

"So, tell me something- how are you still alive?" Damon said, after Logan managed to dodge an attack from Damon.

"I don't know- why don't you tell me. "Logan answered back a little breathlessly, "I mean, after all, I have you to thank for this." He said, gesturing to himself, allowing his face to transform to that of the creature he once swore to hunt, before returning to its normal human disguise.

Damon frowned, suddenly understanding, "You're the new vampire in town." He said unnecessarily, angry in himself that he hadn't worked it out a little sooner. "Who turned you?" Damon asked, curiosity getting the better of him- he could make Logan suffer after he got some answers.

Logan let out a short breathy laugh, "Believe me, I want to know the exact same thing. Because, you see, the last thing I remember is you _killing_ me." Logan shouted, ducking another punch Damon launched at him.

Damon smiled "Right, so you can't recall anyone feeding you blood before you died?" Damon asked, astounded at the man's stupidity. Before Logan could respond, Damon began again, "You know what that doesn't matter, you aren't going to be alive much longer now anyway." And before Logan could sense what was coming, Damon had pinned him against a tree and had already picked up the branch Logan had previously discarded, launching it with as much force as he had, into Logan's chest, missing his heart by mere inches. Damon tilted his head, observing the pain etched on the man's face, soon deciding that it wasn't enough, he pushed the improvised stake further into Logan's body, watching as his face contorted in pain.

"So what was your master-plan? Kill me and then what? Just carry on knocking off every person in town. You really thought you would get away with that?" Damon knew that he had been a vampire for more than a century, but even so, did Logan really think he could survive like that? He had been on the founders council long enough to know they weren't completely stupid when it came to their knowledge of vampires.

"Why the hell not?" Logan wheezed out, the pain of the wooden branch still lodged somewhere between his heart of lungs, distracting him only slightly from the vengeance he had planned to carry out on Damon. "Matter of fact, I was going to start with that cute little blonde you left. Peyton, wasn't it?" He finished, knowing that the pain that was about to come was worth it just for the look that crossed Damon's face in that moment.

Damon's mind quickly flashed back to Peyton, reminding himself that as much as he wanted to spend hours torturing Logan before finishing him off, this couldn't take too long. He had to get back to her, make sure she was still… Damon quickly stopped himself from finishing his thoughts, looking at Logan's face and wanting nothing more than to wipe the smug look off it, he grabbed another branch from the ground, pushing it through his stomach, twisting it around. "Wrong answer." Damon responded, watching as Logan screamed in agony.

Damon released him from his grip, suddenly remembering the gun, loaded with wooden bullets that Liz had given him at the start of the evening that was tucked into his jeans. Getting the gun out, he counted nine wooden bullets, and stood for a couple of minutes, watching as Logan had fallen to the ground trying to get the pieces of wood out of his body. Just as Damon saw he was beginning to pull one of the branches out of his chest, Damon shot him in the hand, as Logan's screams echoed throughout the forest. "You know, I don't think I'm going to enjoy a kill quite as much as this one." Damon said, kicking Logan in the face.

Damon waited for Logan to stand up, using the same tree Damon had just pinned him against for support. And then he preceded to shoot him two more times; in both knees.

_Seven more bullets and then he's dead_. Damon thought to himself. _Seven more bullets to cause as much pain as is supernaturally possible_. After three more shots in the chest; steering clear of his heart, Damon hauled Logan up once again, holding him by his shirt collar, he punched him and then went to apply pressure into the wound closest to his heart, knowing right then that Logan Fell wanted nothing more than to die.

"I didn't ask for this! I didn't want this life." Logan said, his voice strained with the pain he was feeling after having two wooden branches and five bullets shot into his body. "I was a successful reporter! And now…"

Damon let out a sigh "Excuse me while I get out the violins!" He responded, thinking to himself that if Logan was expecting sympathy from him, he was even stupider than he originally thought.

"And you took that away from me!" Logan continued, ignoring Damon's interruption, his anger returned in full force. "This is your fault. _You _killed me."

"I kill everybody. That doesn't make you special." Damon replied, the lack of remorse, or even caring, apparent in his voice. Before Damon could see what was coming, Logan's fist connected with Damon's face, with a force Damon had to admire for someone who was as injured as Logan. His hand automatically went to his cheek, his face beginning to sting from the hit. He got out the gun and shot him in the other hand, as Logan clutched his newly fresh wound, trying to dig the bullet out.

"Why don't you just get it over with and kill me already?" Logan exclaimed, his voice a mixture of exasperation and pain.

"You know, before I knew it was you, I was planning on doing just that. It would have been quick and painless" he considered for a minute, before he amended himself "…more or less." Damon knelt down, "But then you hurt her." Damon said, thinking back to Peyton in some tent somewhere, bleeding out and promised himself this wouldn't last much longer. "She had nothingto do with this. _Nothing_. You shouldn't have done that." Damon said, shaking his head, getting up and taking the gun out of his back pocket, looking down at the snivelling reporter turned vampire, this time aiming the gun at his heart.

"I was aiming for you! She got in the way." Logan said, his voice pleading, though by this point they both knew that he was already dead.

Damon expression became deadly serious, as his eyes examined Logan's face one last time. "Yeah, well next time, make sure you don't miss." And with that, Damon shot Logan three times in the chest. He stood over his body, waiting for Logan's form to change ashen white, as his eyes glazed over- this time; Damon was going to make sure he stayed dead. And with that he ran back through the forest, knowing the smell of blood would lead him back to Peyton.

…

Since Stefan had removed the stake from Peyton's back, she had been drifting in and out of consciousness; never staying awake for longer than a couple of minutes before losing consciousness once again. Stefan knew that she was a lot better than when Damon left her; but he also knew that normally when he was in this kind of situation he would get as far away as possible. He wasn't like Damon, he hadn't spent his entire lifetime drinking human blood, he couldn't control his urges as well as Damon- and where he was; knowing he had to stay with her because nobody else could, that was torture. And it wasn't just dangerous for him; if Peyton woke up and noticed the transformation on his face; the bloodlust in his eyes, it would bring on a whole new host of problems that he just wasn't ready to deal with.

After what felt like hours, Stefan decided he would try to find Damon, knowing he couldn't trust himself to stay in the tent any longer with just him, an unconscious person and a lot of human blood. As he got up to leave, quickly checking on Peyton, taking note that her heart-rate was definitely now a little stronger, Damon came rushing in. He gave Stefan a suspicious glance before moving over to Peyton, examining the wound on her back for a couple of minutes before looking back to Stefan.

"I tried to stop the bleeding as much as I could and I gave her some of my blood when she was quite out of it. She's better, but…" Stefan explained, trailing off.

"But your bloods not my blood- the animal bloods not nearly as effective as the real thing." Damon said; finishing Stefan's thoughts whilst cutting through his wrist with the stake that was originally meant to kill him. Damon looked up from Peyton to Stefan, standing at the entrance. "You should wait outside. They way you're looking at her right now…you need to wait outside."

Damon leaned over Peyton, holding her body forward so she was in sitting position; he put his wrist against her mouth willing her to be conscious enough to drink. Stefan was right; she was definitely a lot better than when he had left her- the bleeding, on the whole, had stopped and Stefan had bandaged the wound up as well as he could with no proper supplies. As Peyton began to come to again, she started to fight against Damon's hold, trying to break free. "No, come on…You need to drink this-it's going to help." Damon said, whispering against her face. Eventually she started to drink more, clutching at his arm, feeling the strength it gave her almost instantaneously. "There we go…" She drank for another ten minutes before she passed out again, as Damon wiped the blood from his wrist onto his jeans- the wound healing within seconds. He sat by her side for a while in silence, on the opposing make-shift bed, thinking over everything that had happened in the last couple of hours. He thought back to how just yesterday he was looking forward to today; how drama-free and boring the town had been lately. And now…

He walked over to her, sitting on the bed beside her, he lifted the shirt Stefan had used to stop the bleeding and saw most of the flesh had reformed over the injury. The worst of it was over and he knew that she was going to be okay, but he still couldn't help but feel guilt; and that wasn't good. He was feeling that emotion too much lately. Letting out a sigh of frustration, he got up from the bed and walked out of the tent to see Stefan standing nearby.

Stefan turned to face Damon, as he approached him from behind. "She's going to be okay." Damon said, walking to stand next to his brother, looking out at the people walking around the fields, completely unaware and ignorant of everything that had happened whilst they were getting drunk or looking up at the damn sky. Stefan simply nodded in response, choosing to remain silent, waiting for Damon to explain what had happened instead of asking him question after question, positive Damon would just snap at any moment, considering the mood he was in right now. "There's a doctor on site- Liz had one called in here in case there were any attacks. He should check over her, maybe redo the bandages." Damon said, still preoccupied by other thoughts.

"I'll find him." Stefan offered, "It would probably be easier if we compel him- a stake wound is a hell of a lot harder to explain than a bite wound." Stefan continued, taking Damon's silence as a form of agreement.

As Stefan began to walk away, Damon broke his silence. "It was Logan…the vampire was Logan." Stefan shook his head in disbelief, unsure what to say. "I don't know how, but it was Logan the entire time. He's dead- we should probably get rid of the body." He continued.

"I'll bury the body after I find the doctor." Stefan replied, waiting for Damon to nod before he walked away.

….

Damon didn't know how long he stood waiting outside the tent, as if on guard duty, when Stefan returned with the doctor who walked straight into the tent, carrying a bag of medical supplies. Stefan took his place standing next to Damon, crossing his arms over his body. Damon turned to face him, "The body is pretty much in the middle of the woods- shouldn't take longer than two minutes to get to it."

Stefan nodded, before asking "And he had no idea who turned him?"

"He was completely clueless." He answered simply; knowing Logan would have no reason to lie.

"If it was someone from here, we could be dealing with more vampires and attacks." Stefan reasoned, knowing the situation was far from resolved.

"I can't think about that tonight." Damon responded, shrugging his shoulders, rubbing his eyes from exhaustion. Just as Stefan thought Damon was done talking, he began again. "He was aiming for me." Damon looked at Stefan, finally voicing the thoughts he had been scared to say aloud all night. At Stefan's look of confusion, Damon continued "Logan was aiming for me and she jumped in front of me." Damon shook his head, laughing to himself in disbelief "Why would she do that?" He asked, looking at Stefan but not really expecting an answer from him. Before he could respond, Damon continued, now determined to tell voice all of his conflicting emotions. "She could have died and it would have been my fault."

Stefan shook his head, "But she didn't die, Damon. Don't think like that."

Damon genuinely laughed at Stefan's reply. "You don't get it Stefan, if she died…" He trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence. "I've killed a lot of people- I mean a _hell _of a lot more than you could possibly know about. And I've never…" He began, before letting out a sigh of frustration. "I've never felt responsible for their death's- I've never even cared. But when she was there, when she was bleeding and I thought that she was going to… I have never felt responsible for the deaths I've caused. But tonight I felt so responsible for her..." He sighed, looking to his brother in confusion. "That's not me Stefan; that's not who I am." He finished, shaking his head.

Before Stefan could think of what to say in response, the doctor emerged from the tent. "I've bandaged her up and given her something for the pain. She's asking for you." He said, looking to Damon, causing Damon to walk past the two of them without another word.

Damon walked in to find Peyton sitting up in the bed, standing sheepishly at the tent opening, unsure what to say.

"Hey." He eventually settled on, clearing his throat and alerting her to his presence.

"Hey." She smiled weakly.

"Are you feeling better- you look better." He said, taking in how much more colour had returned to her face.

"I'm better." She said, nodding, "Just a little sore- the doctor said I should be feeling like that for a couple of weeks." Peyton only then realized that she was sitting in front of Damon topless, wearing only a bra. Immediately she covered herself, using the bedcovers, flushed with embarrassment.

"Stefan had to take it off to get to the-" Damon began to explain.

"I know." She replied quickly.

"Your T-shirt has got blood all over it." Damon continued.

"Right." Peyton agreed, wondering how long it was going to take her to use replies that consisted of more than two words.

"I can get your overnight bag." Damon offered.

"OK." She said, nodding as she watched him leave, only after which she realized she should have asked if he knew where it was. Once he was gone, she crossed her legs on the bed, her right arms reaching back over her shoulder to touch on the bandaging the doctor said not to remove whilst her skin was healing. Apparently, she had been "lucky" that the cut wasn't any deeper otherwise she would have needed serious medical attention. Though she simply smiled at the doctor, she thought to herself that it felt like a serious wound-it felt like it went deep enough into her skin. But at the same time, sitting on the bed now, she didn't feel any pain at all- yes painkillers were effective, but could they really have been that strong? Did she just over-react to an injury that was never going to be serious enough to kill her?

Before she could deliberate any more the extent of the injury, Damon returned with the bag Caroline had packed for her, moving over to her bed, smiling as he dropped it on the ground at her side. He then moved backwards, silently turning around as she began to root through the bag for a shirt. Upon finding a plain black sweat-shirt, she slipped it on, brushing her hair back out from under the shirt. "OK" Peyton said; indicating Damon could turn around again.

"So, you should go home." Damon began hesitantly, placing his hands in his pockets, "Sleeping here isn't going to be good for you. I'll get Caroline." He said, turning to leave.

"No!" Peyton said, causing Damon to look up in concern. "I mean I don't want to worry her. Besides, it's just going to ruin her night- I can just tell her in the morning." She expanded, getting up from the bed and reaching down to pick up her bag.

"I'm sure she would want to know." He responded, taking the bag from Peyton's hands, thinking to himself what the perfect gesture of thanks was for someone who took a stab in the back for you.

"I'm going to be fine." She said, repeating what Damon had told her earlier in the night, she took the bag back off him, carrying it over her good shoulder. As she began to walk away, she suddenly realized "I drove here with Caroline. You can give me a lift back."

"OK." he agreed, jumping at the suggestion. "Stefan has the keys- I'll just get them from him." He said.

"Damon?" She called out to him; he looked at her expectantly, noting the hesitancy in her tone. "About the guy who attacked me…or you…whatever-is he…" She began to ask before Damon cut her off, shaking his head.

"You don't need to worry about him. I took care of him." Damon answered.

"What exactly does that mean, Damon?" She asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

"It means just that. There's no reason for you to be scared. I promise you, you will never have to see him again." Damon replied, with a tone of finality in his voice that told her that the conversation was over; he didn't wait for her to respond, instead leaving in search of Stefan. Peyton lay the bag down at her feet, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion as a mixture of both relief and dread, both in equal measure, took hold of every one of her thoughts, as she deliberated over the meaning behind Damon's words.

…..

When Damon returned, she followed him silently to the car park; noticing Damon was walking the longer route, cutting through the middle of the field, completely avoiding the spot that the unexpected ambush had happened. Only when she got in the car and he began driving did she realize that he wasn't going to voluntarily explain anything that happened while she was unconscious, or in fact, offer any conversation at all.

"Is Stefan going to be alright finding a ride back home?" Peyton asked, hating the fact that she was engaging in small talk considering everything that they had been through tonight.

"He'll manage." Damon responded, keeping his eyes on the road. In fact, Peyton thought to herself, he hadn't managed to maintain eye contact for longer than a few seconds when he was with her before he averted his eyes elsewhere.

"Can you tell him thank you from me, for staying with me?" Peyton asked. Damon nodded his head in response, remaining silent. "But if you are going to leave me with anyone in the future, I would choose someone other than your brother if I were you." Peyton smiled, attempting humour to lighten the mood.

"What do you mean?" Damon frowned, his eyes shooting up from the road.

"Well, you know…" Peyton said, thinking this wasn't the reaction she was expecting from him. "He's just seems a little queasy around blood- he couldn't even look at me." She answered, trying to recall what little she remembered between her spells of unconscousness.

"He didn't…" Damon began, his face suddenly full of concern, as he considered for a moment before saying, "Never mind, ignore me." His eyes moved back to the road and a couple more seconds of excruciating silence passed before Damon looked to Peyton "It kind of runs in the family. I'm not so good around blood either."

Peyton thought for a minute before replying, "You weren't so bad." He turned to look at her, and a feeling of relief washed over her as she saw a genuine smile grace his face before disappearing behind the sombre, serious look that he had been wearing all night.

"Oh, you can just drop me off at Caroline's." Peyton told him when she noticed he was driving towards her own apartment. "I said I would stay and wait for her there until she got back."

"Sure." Damon replied after Peyton had finished explaining.

"Do you need instructions?" Peyton asked, realizing this was probably the most formal conversation she had ever had with Damon, and hopefully ever would have- serious and Damon just didn't go well together.

"No, I've been there before." He answered.

"Right, of course…" Peyton replied, chastising herself at such a stupid question.

It took Damon a couple of minutes before he realized what he said, quickly back-pedalling. "No! I didn't mean like that. I know her mom. I sometimes do favours for Liz."

"Favours?" Peyton asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah…" Damon considered for a moment, "It's complicated."

Peyton let out a short laugh, startling Damon, "Is anything ever just simple with you?" She asked, smiling.

Damon smiled in response, looking at her; he replied "You know I was half-expecting you to end that sentence with some joke about me being simple-minded."

"Well, I didn't have to- you did that job for me." She answered back, grinning as she turned to look at the empty road ahead of them. Suddenly remembered something, she turned to look at Damon, her eyes wide. "What's the time?"

Damon furrowed his brows before looking down at the watch on his wrist. "12.30. Why?"

Peyton let out a sigh of relief, leaning back in the seat when she realized how much it ached when she did so. "Just checking I didn't miss the meteor shower." She answered.

"You know I personally don't see the big hype about it. I mean I've seen a couple in my lifetime and it's really not that big of a deal- just a bunch of rocks and dust flying across the sky."

Peyton smiled, letting out a long sigh, "That was the probably the perfect opportunity to use some of your best material on me and you blew it."

He smiled in return, shrugging his shoulders, "My best material has _absolutely_ no effect on you." he replied matter-of-factly. "So, why are you so bothered about missing the meteor shower?"

"I've always wanted to make a wish under a shooting star."

Her answer caused Damon to groan in response, rolling his eyes he turned to her, "Do you know before the whole myths about wishes and shooting stars existed, there were myths about meteor showers being seen as bad omens? Besides," he continued, after a second thought, "you really think your wish will come true?" He asked; his face the perfect picture of cynicism.

"Not really, but it's worth a shot." Peyton said, shrugging her shoulders.

"And what would you wish for?" He asked, wondering what she could want so badly to feel the need to wish for it.

Peyton thought for a moment, looking out the window, and then turned to Damon, answering "I would wish for my karma to all cancel out… I wish I could start afresh."

At this, Damon couldn't help but laugh at her. "So now you believe in karma too?"

She raised her eyebrows towards him, "I never used to. But in the space of one year, I have nearly died twice. _Clearly _I must be pissing someone off."

"Karma's just a load of BS."

"What makes you so sure?" She asked, frowning.

"Trust me, if karma existed, I would be monumentally screwed beyond belief. I don't believe in karma and neither do you." He stated, turning to look at her.

"I guess… But just in case I get run over by a car next week…" She trailed off.

"I'll keep an eye out for your name in the obituaries." He smiled as she laughed.

"That's all I'm asking. And I'm counting on you to make sure I get a damn good gravestone message." She replied, stretching her legs in the car and turning the AC on.

"Ah, that's one thing I hate about funerals- the gravestone messages are always so dull and generic: "_devoted mother, caring father, dear friend"_." Peyton tried to suppress a laugh at the fact that what Damon hated most about funerals were the messages on the grave, not the fact that somebody he knew had just died. "But your message would be something like 'Peyton Sawyer: music-loving, no-nonsense, bad-ass bitch.'" He continued, as she let out a short bust of laughter.

She considered for a minute before she said, "'and yours would read "Damon Salvatore: hated by all.'"

Damon shook his head, smirking "Try 'Damon Salvatore: _envied_ by all.'".

Peyton rolled her eyes, muttering. "Or how about just 'Damon Salvatore: deluded.'"

Damon smiled, ignoring her last comment, and they continued driving in silence until he spoke up again, "I've got it. 'Tragically misunderstood. Utterly flawed. Beautifully broken.'"

Peyton considered each phrase carefully before slowly nodding her head. And then, as a thought dawned on her she turned to Damon, asking him "Is that meant to be yours or mine?"

He contemplated her question for a minute, before finally answering "Both of ours I guess." He smiled, as he pulled up into Caroline's driveway, taking the key out of the ignition. He watched as Peyton got her bag from the backseat and just as she opened the door to leave, he called out for her to wait. She turned to him, raising her eyebrows at him questioningly. "I don't feel right about you spending the night here alone."

Peyton smirked, "You know of all the ways of trying to get an invite that has to be the most original."

"I'm serious, Peyton." He answered genuinely, causing the smirk to fall from her face. "I can just stay with you until Caroline gets back in the morning. I just don't want you spending the night alone." He finished, shocking Peyton with the direct honesty in his words.

Peyton considered rejecting him, but she saw the pure concern in his eyes and realized, though she would never admit it to him, that she also didn't want to spend the night alone tonight. "OK" She agreed, nodding her head; this time she didn't argue when he took her bag for her. When they got to the door, Peyton reached into her jeans pocket taking out a set of keys, as Damon looked at her suspiciously, "What? Caroline's not the only person who can make copies!" She responded defensively, turning the key in the hole and pushing the door open. She walked into the house, quickly de-activating the alarm and turned the lights as she walked through the house, upstairs to Caroline's room. Only after she dropped her bag at the foot of the bed and close the window in the room did she remember Damon, and turned to see him standing sheepishly by the staircase outside the room. "You can come inside." Peyton said, opening the door a little wider to let him through.

Damon walked in, looking around the room, he commented "She's redecorated since the last time I've been here."

Peyton scowled at him, throwing a cushion at his head, possibly a little too forcefully, which he caught just in time, as she lifted the covers and got into the bed; careful to lie on her side, so to avoid any discomfort to her back; her body facing the wall.

Damon stood for a moment, unsure what to do with himself before he grabbed the chair by the desk, dragging it over to the door and facing the bed. He sat down, folding his arms over his body. He listened carefully for a couple of minutes, and hearing that Peyton's breathing hadn't slowed down enough to mean she was sleeping, he spoke. "In the car, you said that this was the second time this year you nearly died."

"I was shot." Peyton said, sensing his question before he asked it.

"Ah, been there." Damon replied knowingly, "Hurt's like a bitch, doesn't it?" As he subconsciously touched his chest, still able to feel the scar left by the bullet.

Peyton turned over, so she was now facing where Damon was sitting. "Hell of a lot worse than a stab wound." She agreed, noting from funeral conversations to life-threatening injuries, how there subjects seemed to be leading back to morbid routes. Then again, she considered, given the events of tonight she shouldn't be so surprised.

"Well either way, I can guarantee you that my bullet wound hurt a hell of a lot more than yours." He continued, glad for the darkness in the room to hide the flinch that appeared on his face at her mention of tonight's attack.

"I almost died!" She exclaimed incredulously.

"I did die!" He replied, just as expressively.

"OK! Fine you win!" She conceded, stifling a yawn as she stretched her legs in the bed.

"Hey Peyton?"

"Hmmm?" She murmured, as her eyes began to drift closed; the exhaustion of the night finally having caught up with her.

"Your eyes… are really blue." He said, unable to keep the smirk off his face.

She frowned at first, unsure what he meant when she suddenly remembered what she had said to him. She groaned, half out of embarrassment, half out of anger. "Oh god!" She considered for a minute, before smiling into the pillow, as she whispered "Just be lucky I didn't say 'I love you'".

Damon frowned, but before he could question what she meant, her eyes closed shut, heavy with sleep. And like Peyton, Damon's eyes also closed shut, though he was not fortunate enough to be claimed by sleep; instead he replayed the events of the night over and over, as if watching it on a movie screen, his mind constantly playing through scenarios that didn't end with him lying on the floor with Peyton in his arms as a pool of blood surrounded them.

….

"Damon?" Peyton called out anxiously into the darkness for him.

"What's wrong?" He answered; his eyes snapping open in alarm.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, wiping the beads of sweat that had formed on her face from the nightmare she had just woken up from. "Nothing. I was just checking you were still here."

"I'm here." He replied, clearing his throat and re-adjusting his position on the chair.

"How did you know him?" She asked, deciding that they couldn't continue tip-toeing around the subject neither one of them had touched upon since they had left the campsite.

Damon sighed, aware that there were too many lies he had told her to keep track, instead opting for the truth; well as much of the truth he could divulge without revealing the existence of vampires; that he definitely planned on keeping hidden.

"He used to be a reporter that went off the radar just before you came into town. And lately, there's been a lot of missing people lately; more than there should be for this dreary town." He thought for a second, before adding "That's why I was there tonight. Liz told me to keep an out for anyone suspicious. Never thought he would have been behind it though…" He finished, thoughtfully.

"Why did she ask you?" Peyton frowned.

Damon shrugged the question off, "She trusts me."

_Well, _she figured,_ the odds were that somebody in this town had to trust him. Though, with the amount of people in this town that seemed to openly despise him, it did seem less likely._ "And you trust her?" She asked cynically.

Damon chuckled, "I don't trust anybody."

Peyton smiled faintly, _well at least that hadn't changed. _

"How many people?"

"What?" Damon asked, confused by the sudden change in topic.

"How many people went missing?"

"Enough. Some men, but mostly women."

"Well, it's a good job you were there to stop him then." Peyton replied, seemingly satisfying all of the questions that she had for him for now.

"I guess so…" Damon answered less than convincingly, wondering if all of his would have been avoided if he had just not showed up. Logan definitely wouldn't have found that he was in the woods and so wouldn't have felt the need to exact revenge. He wouldn't be walking with Peyton, inadvertently endangering her life. Then she wouldn't have been hurt.

"Do you think they are all dead?" Peyton asked, bringing him away from his thoughts and back to the present. "All the missing people, I mean… do you think he killed them all?"

"I know he did." Damon replied certainly, sure without a shadow of a doubt that they were probably all stacked up in some warehouse somewhere, blood-drained and decaying.

Peyton felt a shiver run through her spine at the thought; all those people died alone, terrified and fighting for their last breath. She pulled the covers closer to her face, as if trying to find warmth and security in the blankets that covered her. Just as she was about to allow sleep to take hold of her once again, she heard Damon speak, his voice so quiet at first she thought she imagined it.

"What?" She asked, turning to face him, his face only clear by the moonlight shining through the windows.

"Why did you do it?" He asked again, louder this time, finally voicing the one question he kept going back to, the one thing he needed an answer to.

"Why did I do what?" She asked.

"Why did you jump in front of me?" He said, his voice louder still, unable to mask the anger in his tone.

"I don't know!" Peyton exclaimed, startled by the sudden change in Damon's mood. "I saw that he was coming towards you and I…" She answered defensively.

"You what, Peyton? Why did you do it?" He said, not caring that he was shouting now.

Peyton suddenly got up from the bed, pissed off that she had woken up to this. "You know what I did!"

Damon stood up now too, throwing the chair back in frustration, "But _why_? Why did you do it?"

"Why does it matter?" She shouted back, raising her voice to match his. "Is it some ego thing? Are you just pissed off that you didn't get to play the big hero?"

Damon laughed in response, breaking the tension that had filled the room for an instant, before he went back to shouting. "You think that's what this is? Some bruised ego? You could have died, Peyton! Back there, you could have died. So I _really_ need you to tell me why you did it." He finished, his wide blue eyes, glistening in the darkened room.

Peyton frowned, sighing as she tried to calm her anger. "I saw him coming towards you, and I saw he had something in his hand. And the way he was looking at you, I knew he was going to kill you!" She said, finally lowering her voice to a normal speaking tone, "And I figured if I got in the way, then maybe… It's not as if I was trying to get hit. I just… He was going to kill you, Damon." She finished, dropping down to sit on the edge of the bed.

Damon let out a long sigh, but honestly unsure of what he was expecting her to tell him. This was his chance to apologize; this was where he could say a thousand different things to make everything okay between the two of them again. But he was Damon and apologizing wasn't his style, which is why instead he said "It was a stupid thing to do." And he walked out the room.

…

Peyton woke up for what felt like the hundredth time in the space of a couple of hours, restless and no longer tired, the argument she had had with Damon still fresh in her mind. Finally deciding that she wasn't going to be able to sleep the night off, she got up, walking to the adjoining bathroom. She opened the tap, splashing cold water on her face, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Hesitating at first, she turned around, peeling away at the bandages on her back she was greeted by a fresh trickling of blood that she assumed must have been caused by her constant moving in the bed. "Damn it." She muttered, getting a cloth from the cabinet and running it under the running water, she dabbed at the blood, cleaning away most of it, she re-applied the bandage, and threw the cloth in the trash-bin. Taking one last look at her self in the mirror, she dried her hands and walked back into the connecting room. Jumping back, she was startled to see a figure at the bed, only to discover it was Damon.

"I thought you had left." She said; the contempt in her voice clear.

Damon sighed, "I said I would stay with you until Caroline got back."

"Well, you can go. I don't need a babysitter." She replied flatly.

"I said I would stay, I'm staying." He answered back, in a tone that left no room for argument. Reluctantly, she moved to the bed, sitting next to him, her head facing the window.

Damon frowned, he turned to face her. "Are you okay? Your back- it's okay?" He asked, the faint smell of blood driving the vampire half of him to ravenous hunger, whilst the other half of him was full of concern.

"I'm fine. It started bleeding in the middle of night, but I cleaned most of it away." She said, quite frankly confused at how Damon could switch from anger and rage to concern and hesitancy all in the space of a few hours.

Damon nodded in understanding; the two of them simply looking out the window, watching the night sky turn to dawn in silence. As the sun began to rise up, Damon finally broke the silence. "You missed the meteor shower."

Peyton smiled weakly, shrugging her shoulders "I wasn't really that bothered, Just a bunch of rocks flying across the sky, right?" She said, tilting her head in his direction.

"Right." He smiled. "I don't do apologies, Peyton." He said, feeling the urge to say all the things that he had left unsaid.

"Well that's just… _shocking_." She replied, widening her eyes.

Damon shook his head, turning to face her "Just let me finish, Peyton." He said, shocking her into silence, she waited in silence. "What you did tonight… You need to promise me that you will never do something like that again."

"Damon, he was going to kill you!" She said; annoyed at how they were having the same argument all over again and irritated at how he refused to acknowledge her point.

"I know! And if something like that happens again, you won't try to stop them." He answered, desperate to make sure that she understood what he was expecting of her.

"Damon-" She began again.

"No! No 'Damon'." He said, turning his body so he was now facing her fully, his eyes wide with frustration. "If that happens again Peyton, I need you to tell me that you won't get involved. In fact, I need you to tell me that you will run the other way and not look back."

Peyton raised her eyebrows, "So, the next time some crazy psychopath comes at you with a knife you just want me to run away?"

"Yes." He said, fully aware that even though Peyton they would not be put in that situation again, with the amount of people he had pissed off in his lifetime, it was more likely to happen again than not. "So, can you do that for me?" He asked, fully expecting only one response from her, he looked at her in anticipation.

"Okay." She whispered after a moment's consideration. "Yeah, okay." She said; her voice more confident this time, finally seeing a look of satisfaction on Damon's face. "But can you hear me out for a second?" Peyton asked, waiting for him to nod before continuing. "If I hadn't stopped him and he had killed you… then what's to say he wouldn't have just killed me too?" Damon opened his mouth to reply, but found he didn't know what to say. "_If_ it happens again, not that it would, but if it does, fine, I'll stand by and just watch… But, if I didn't do what I did, then we both would have died."

She paused, looking at Damon and for the first time that night she understood why he had been so angry and insisting that she promised to run away next time; he felt guilty.

"This wasn't your fault, Damon." She whispered, shaking her head to emphasise her point. He looked at her, and frowned; the guilt he was feeling now tenfold, as he thought to himself _If only she knew. _

At that moment, they both heard the front door downstairs open and close, simultaneously looking towards the bedroom door. "Caroline's back." Damon announced, looking at his watch and realizing it was almost 6am. "I should go."

Peyton nodded in response. "Ok". She stood up, as he walked towards the door.

As an afterthought, he turned around, holding onto the door handle he said, "I'll stop by later on, just to check on you… if that's okay."

"That's fine". She agreed, deciding now wasn't the time to lecture him on how she didn't need anyone to look out for her.

"I'll see you later on then." He said, walking at the door, he met Caroline at the top of the staircase. "Caroline." He nodded in her direction cordially, and walked down the stairs and out of the house.

Caroline frowned, slowly walking to her bedroom, scared to find a less-than fully dressed Peyton, lying on her bed. She let out a sigh of relief, when she saw Peyton, fully clothed, sitting on the bed, smiling faintly at her.

"I just saw Damon… did you two hook up or something?" She asked frowning, as she collapsed onto the bed; never fully appreciating the wonders of a mattress before a night of camping.

"What? Oh… No." She answered, only then realizing how everything must look to Caroline.

"Then why was he here?" She asked, frowning, as she bunched up all the pillows surrounding her and getting herself comfortable.

"It's a long story." Peyton said, unsure where to begin. "What about you and Matt? Have you two sorted out your issues?"

Caroline sighed, "It's another long story… And I asked first, so spill." She smiled, as she watched her friend ready herself to tell her everything that happened since she had left Caroline alone with Matt what seemed like days ago now.

…..

Damon parked the car in front of the boarding house and got out, a resolution that he had formed on the drive back still clear in his mind. He walked in to find Stefan sitting in parlour, writing in his journal that he would no doubt have mocked him for any other day. Stefan looked up to see Damon walking towards the kitchen, opening the fridge and getting out a packet from his stolen blood-bank reserves.

"You've been gone a couple of hours." Stefan said, seeing just by looking at him that Damon's mood had visibly improved since he had last seen him.

"I was with Peyton." Damon replied, ripping open the bag and pouring it into a glass as he began to drink from it.

"Is she okay?"

Damon nodded between sips "She's going to be fine." He finished gulping down the rest of the drink, when he went to pour himself another. "Did you bury the body?" He asked, suddenly recalling Stefan's offer to get rid of the reporter.

"Yeah, I got rid of him…" Stefan furrowed his brows, confused at Damon's almost chipper mood. "Are _you_ okay, Damon?"

Damon looked at his younger brother, a wicked smile crossing his face, he patted his brother on the back. "I'm okay. Actually, I feel pretty great." He said, finishing his second drink in no time and closing the fridge.

"You want to tell me why?" Stefan asked, aware that Damon was only ever in this much of a good mood after he had killed someone.

Damon considered his question for a minute, before answering. "Sure why not? I made a decision on my way here."

"OK… What decision was that?" Stefan asked, shaking his head.

"Well, I realized I've been wasting time since I've been here. I got distracted. Stupid mistake, little brother."

Stefan sighed, rolling his eyes "Damon, will you just tell me what you're talking about."

"Katherine!" Damon exclaimed, as if the answer was obvious. "I'm bringing Katherine back." Damon laughed, as he walked up to his room, driven by a renewed feeling of excitement and anticipation.

* * *

**Author's note: OK, thoughts? I know you may be annoyed with the ending, but the way I figured, Damon spent 150 years loving Katherine, and that wouldn't just go away, so I wanted to write that in. Also, want to say a BIG thanks to all the reviews, and I promise that you won't have to wait nearly as long for the next chapter! Hope you enjoyed it and I will definitely respond to reviews in the next chapter but I figured I should get this chapter out asap. So, thanks again to everyone who reads and reviews-you guys are amazing!**


	8. I'm losing you and its effortless

**Authors Note: OK I wanted to get this chapter out sooner than this, but I am about half-way through the next chapter, so that should be up within the next 2 weeks max- if it's not, quote me and you have full permission to shout at me! I do not own Vampire Diaries, OTH or the song Over my head, by the Fray- the chapter title is named after the song lyric(not sure if that makes sense, but you get the point...). Also want to say- sorry for any typos or mistakes you may find in the story- I have read through it again so hopefully there aren't many. OK, nothing more for me to say than enjoy...**

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"Damon is such an ass!"

"You have no arguments from me."

"No, I mean even more of an ass than I first thought."

"I didn't think that was possible."

"Neither did I, but what can I say- he really knows how to surpass all expectations." Caroline said, pulling open the changing room curtains to reveal a navy blue, strapless dress, waiting for her friend's opinion.

Peyton scrunched her nose, reaching across and tugging a dress out from the endless pile of clothes next to her on the sofa. "Try the red." She said, throwing it over to Caroline, as she turned back towards the dressing room, closing the curtains behind her. "So it doesn't bother you?" Caroline asked, from behind the curtain as she slipped out of the dress.

"What- Damon? No, not really. Why should it bother me?" Peyton asked, counting all the different boutique bags scattered on the floor- double checking they still had all their shopping from the four hours of what had started out as 'window-shopping'. Shopping with Caroline, she had begun to learn, was _never_ a good idea- she ended up spending her budget grocery money for the rest of the week and burning a hole through several credit cards.

"Oh come on- you seriously need to ask?" Caroline said, pushing open the curtains and stepping out in a deep red, sequined, knee length, off-the shoulder dress. Peyton smiled, as Caroline did as told and turned around on the spot. "That's the one." Peyton stated, slowly nodding her head as if in confirmation.

Caroline quickly went back into the dressing room, changing into her normal clothes and emerging with the two dresses, hanging on her arms. "I kind of like both." she smiled, reaching for her purse and grabbing a couple of bags.

"Wait, what about these?" Peyton said, holding Caroline back, and gesturing to the dresses carelessly stacked in a heap.

Caroline shrugged, waving away Peyton's question. "That's what they have assistants for."

Peyton looked at her friend, widening her eyes, in both shock and amusement. "What? That's what assistants are meant to do- assist!" Caroline justified herself, as she began to walk away again, this time dragging Peyton with her, as Peyton's hand was still gripped tight around her friends arm. "You get they don't work on commission- they get paid by the hour." Peyton explained as they walked up to the cashier.

"Good; they were _absolutely _no help whatsoever." Caroline replied, making no effort to lower her voice as they reached the woman behind the counter, who greeted them with a less than warm smile. Peyton simply rolled her eyes, deciding to end the conversation now, knowing Caroline would make no effort to be subtle in her opinions on the staff help.

Once they left the shop, with the dozens of shopping bags in tow, Caroline led the way to a small café across the road, where they sat down and ordered drinks. "Don't think I've forgotten what we were talking about." Caroline began again, once a waiter moved to their table and lay their drinks down in front of them.

"That's great- maybe you can remind me." Peyton reached out for a sugar packet, emptying it into her hot chocolate.

"Fine, you're playing dumb- how about I give you three clues. Dark hair, blue eyes and we both agree that he is an ass."

"Damon." Peyton sighed, wishing Caroline would drop the subject once they had left the shop; apparently not.

"I still kind of prefer ass, but sure- Damon." Caroline replied, looking at her friend expectantly.

Peyton stared at Caroline for a couple of seconds, before exclaiming "I don't know what you expect me to say!"

"OK, let me refresh your memory. Not too long ago, you take a bullet for him…"

"It was not a bullet!" Peyton smiled at Caroline's need to over-dramatize everything.

"…metaphorically." Caroline corrected herself, before continuing. "He promisesto check up on you and not only does he not show, but you don't see him for almost a week. I mean the _least _he could do is give you a phone call."

"Well, thanks for that, though I'm pretty sure that I was the one that told _you _all of this." Peyton replied, sipping from her mug.

"Well…" Caroline said, pushing her friend to tell her more.

Peyton looked up from her drink, knowing that Caroline would not drop the topic until she got a satisfactory response, Peyton sighed in frustration. "Well nothing! I mean sure, a decent human being would have at least called, but its pretty clear by now that Damon is not decent." Peyton raised her eyebrows, adding, "Hell, I'm not even sure that he's human most of the time." She looked down at her mug, stirring her drink and watching the swirling patterns the cream made as it dissolved into the liquid.

"So you're over him?" Caroline asked, raising her eyes sceptically.

"There's nothing to be over!" Peyton exclaimed, wondering how much longer this conversation, (though to her it felt more like an interrogation), would last.

"Well, it's obvious that you liked him." Her friend replied, as if it was a fact.

"And you are basing this on what exactly- your eye vibes observation?" Peyton asked; the sarcasm clearly evident for Caroline to pick up on.

Caroline rolled her eyes, continuing "Well every time your phone rings, you literally rush to get it out and every time you get it out your face falls, just a little bit."

"Stalker much?" Peyton joked, silently chastising herself- this is not how she acted over a guy and she hated the idea that she reacted any differently just because the guy in question was Damon.

"Evasive much?" Caroline replied; slightly insulted that Peyton really believed that joking in attempt to change the subject would be seen as anything other than completely transparent.

"Fine- there was a brief moment in the very distant past where I considered the _possibility _that I could maybe like him, but that window of opportunity has officially passed." Peyton answered back truthfully.

"No more Damon?" Caroline asked, still not fully believing her.

"No more Damon!" Peyton repeated, widening her eyes, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders just by saying the words.

Caroline nodded her head, choosing to believe her, at least for now, and smiled, "Finally! You were too good for him anyway." She stated, as she reached for the menu in the middle of the table and going to the dessert section on the last page.

"It's Damon; road-kill is too good for him." Peyton replied matter-of-factly, causing Caroline to giggle in response.

"I liked that."

"Thanks, plenty more where that came from." Peyton smiled, leaning back a little further in her seat.

"Well, any time you need a Damon-bashing session my door is always open."

"I might just take you up on that." Peyton said, as Caroline called over a waiter and ordered a chocolate fudge cake, a strawberry cheesecake and a large bowl of vanilla ice cream to share. Caroline ordering her food for her, without her opinion, was another thing that Peyton had grown accustomed to every time the two of them would eat together- though she hadn't yet got used to how she knew just the right things to order for her.

"Speaking of…" Caroline said, once the waiter walked back over to the kitchen. She reached into Peyton's bag, whipping out her phone and began to scroll through her contacts list. Peyton leant across the table in curiosity, seeing Caroline had stopped at Damon's name and saw her choose the 'edit/delete contact' option, naturally assuming Caroline was going to delete Damon from her phone, frowning when Caroline instead scrolled to 'edit' instead. After another minute of Caroline fidgeting on Peyton's phone, she finally showed her friend the end result, causing the two of them to collapse into a fit of laughter.

Once their desserts arrived, they began to eat in silence, each occasionally taking bites from the other person's plate. After a couple of minutes, Peyton asked "So what are you and Matt up to tonight?"

"Not much- we were just going to hang out at the Mystic Grill after he finishes up from work and then if it's not too late, we thought we might catch a movie. You should join us."

"Oh no!" Peyton smiled, sipping from her now cold hot chocolate. "After what happened last time, I am done being third wheel on your dates!" She said, thinking back to how what was meant to be a bunch of friends going to the cinema, slowly whittled down to just her, Matt and Caroline.

"I don't know why you're complaining-it was not that bad!"

"Caroline, having the cinema attendant saying they were getting complaints about the couple in the front row making out too loudly and then getting kicked out, was _not _what I pictured when you said we were going to see a movie! It was so…

"Humiliating!"

"-Fun!" Caroline finished at the same time as Peyton finished her sentence.

"Either way," Peyton said, still smiling at Caroline's idea of 'fun', "I am not about to volunteer to be third wheel on your date."

"We can double date." Caroline replied, shrugging the problem away.

"Right, except a double date traditionally involves four people."

"Your point?"

"You, me, Matt- I count three."

"You, me, Matt, Tyler." Caroline corrected. "I count four." She smiled, finishing her dessert and pushing the plate away from her.

Peyton groaned in response. "Tyler?"

"What's wrong with Tyler?" Caroline frowned.

"Nothing. But if you recall, you already tried setting me up with him and he stood me up."

"Yes, but that was before he knew it was a date- this time he knows it's a date, so he's going to show up."

Peyton narrowed her eyes at her friend, "This time he knows…? As in, you've already invited him?" Peyton asked, though she really didn't need an answer.

"Matt texted me while we were shopping and said he already said yes which means you _have _to say yes."

"Oh my god! I hate you, you know that."

"Oh you love me!" Caroline laughed, as they began to pick up their bags to leave. "Besides, I just set you up with a good-looking, sweet, available guy." She continued, as they got up, adding as an afterthought, "and I'm paying for lunch- I'm a pretty damn good and generous friend." She finished; modesty was a concept completely lost on Caroline Forbes.

"Oh yeah, you're all about the giving." Peyton dead-panned, as Caroline paid the bill.

Caroline smiled, ignoring her last comment as the pair walked out the café, "So, is that a yes?"

"You're asking me like I have a choice." Peyton responded as they walked down the mostly empty sidewalk. At Caroline's silence, Peyton rolled her eyes, "OK- yes! Yes, I will go on the double date."

"Yay!" Caroline let out a squeal of excitement, clapping her hands together. "And we already have what we are going to wear." She lifted the shopping bags a little higher. "You want to come to mine to get ready- we can leave together."

"Sure, but I need to do that history essay that's due in next week. Just give me a couple of hours to finish that, and then I'll meet you at yours." Caroline nodded her head in agreement as she opened the door to Peyton's comet, putting her bags in the back seat, as Peyton got into the driver's side and pulled out of the street.

...

Stefan walked out the lounge, moving at a pace much quicker than normal. He opened the door, feeling both surprise and disappointment at the person standing in front of him. "Peyton."

"Hi." Peyton said, standing awkwardly in front of the doorway.

"Hey, uh… Damon's not here."

"I'm not here to see Damon- I actually wanted to talk to you." Peyton replied; finding herself relieved at knowing she wouldn't have an awkward run-in with Damon.

Stefan furrowed his brows, "Oh." He said, folding his arms, he shook his head, moving aside "I'm sorry- come on in."

Stefan led the way to the lounge, sitting down in armchair as Peyton took her seat opposite him, scratching nervously at her elbows, unsure how to start.

Stefan leaned forward in his chair, sensing her nervousness, he offered "Can I get you something to eat or drink?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm OK- I'm on my way to meet Caroline, so I can't stay too long." Peyton hesitated for a moment, before finally forcing herself to speak, if only to get rid of the awkward silence that seemed to fill every empty space between each exchange of conversation. "Look, I just wanted to say thank you- for staying with me the other night. My version of events is pretty hazy at best, but I do remember you looking after me, and getting help. And I'm sorry for not coming by sooner."

Stefan shrugged his shoulders, "Damon was really the one that stayed with you for most of it."

She smiled, "Letting Damon take all the credit- he'd never do that for you."

"Yeah, you have a point there." Stefan laughed, "But it really wasn't a big deal and he really does deserve the credit on this one."

Peyton raised her eyebrows, "You always find it this hard to accept a 'thank you'?"

"About as hard as you find it to say thank you." Stefan countered, causing both of them to smile.

"Anyway, I would have come by sooner, but-"

"Peyton, its fine… Really. I'm just glad you're okay." After a moments pause, Stefan asked tentatively. "Have you spoken to Damon lately?"

"No." Peyton replied, possibly a little quicker than necessary. She knew the subject was bound to surface eventually; he was after all, the only thing that they really had in common. At Stefan's silence, Peyton asked begrudgingly, knowing she was broaching a subject that she had made a vow that very day she didn't want to think about, let alone discuss. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, he's just been out of town for a while and he hasn't been answering his cell." Stefan explained, thinking back to the day Damon left almost a week ago, shoving a few clothes in a bag and his revelation that he was 'bringing Katherine back' still fresh in his mind. He tried to grill Damon, but his brother remained tight-lipped and left the next day, all calls going straight to answer phone.

"And you think something's wrong?"

Stefan shook his head, brushing off the question with a wave of his hand. "If there's one thing that I've learnt about my brother over the years, it's that he can take care of himself."

Peyton smiled, nodding her head in agreement. "What's the problem then- you missing him already? I would have thought that you would have been looking forward to having the house to yourself."

"I was… I am- it's just that it's a little too empty if that makes sense." He replied, furrowing his brows in the realization of a concept that he never before considered; the thought of actually missing his older brother's presence.

"I'm an only child and my dad works away from home- trust me, I completely understand what an empty house feels like." Stefan nodded his head, never having thought about it from Peyton's point of view before. "I'm surprised Elena isn't here every night she can get away." Peyton smiled, faltering when she observed Stefan's body language become much more defensive.

"Yeah, we got into an argument." He cleared his throat, massaging the bridge of his nose. "She's another person not taking my calls." He told her, laughing to himself at his lack of popularity this week.

"What were you fighting about?" Peyton asked, immediately taking it back as soon as the words left her mouth. "I'm sorry, that was rude; it's none of my business."

"It's ok." He replied, seemingly not taking offence. "I lied to her about something I really shouldn't have lied to her about." He let out a sigh of frustration, "She has every right to not want to talk to me; I just wish she would let me explain."

She shrugged her shoulders together, "I'm sure you two will work things out eventually."

"Yeah, I wish it was that simple, but she probably doesn't want to talk to me again- I don't blame her…"

Peyton frowned, seeing this was more than just some teenage squabble. "Stefan, she loves you. Just give her some time- when she's ready to talk, she will come to you."

"You think?" He asked- his voice still unbelieving.

"I'm sure of it." She replied confidently. "In fact", she added as a thought crossed her mind, "if I'm wrong, I owe you a date- on me."

"Oh yeah?" Stefan smiled despite his mood.

"Yeah, and if I'm right, you owe me a date and just to give you fair warning- I'm going to be right."

"Right," Stefan grinned, nodding his head, "and this date- is it to make Damon jealous, or Elena?"

Peyton rolled her eyes, "I meant date in the friendship sense. Besides me and Damon are officially done- I could care less if he gets jealous. Though, if he gets annoyed then that can only be seen as a plus for both of us." Peyton concluded, causing Stefan to laugh.

At that moment, Peyton's cell phone went off in her bag, signalling a text message. She pulled it out, reading the message from Caroline, she looked up from her phone, explaining to Stefan "It's Caroline- she's wondering where I am. I should…" She gestured towards the door.

"Right." Stefan got up, walking across the lounge and opening the door for her.

Peyton walked out, turning suddenly just as Stefan was about to shut the door, "You know, if you ever need anyone to talk to, or if the house gets too empty for you, you've got my number. I'm sure I'm no Elena, but I can guarantee you I am _much _better company than Damon." She smiled, as he thanked her in return and they exchanged their goodbyes.

...

"So, you ready?" Caroline said, jumping in front of Peyton as they made their way across the road and towards the restaurant. She was practically giddy with excitement.

Peyton smiled for a split-second before hiding it behind a scowl. "You know you don't have to be _so_ excited about this."

"If my best guy friend and my best girl friend get together- and _I'm_ the one that made it happen- what's there not to be excited about?" Caroline smiled, holding the door open for her friend.

Peyton considered what Caroline said, pointing her index finger at her "No promises."

"Deal." Caroline replied, wide-eyed. "No promises-just my secret hopes and wishes." Caroline muttered under her breath, causing Peyton to laugh.

"Get inside." Peyton ordered her, gently pushing her friend inside and shutting the door behind them.

They both gave a quick scan of the restaurant, soon spotting Tyler and Matt sitting at a booth, waving them over to join them. The two boys stood up as the girls reached them. Matt and Caroline kissed briefly, as Peyton turned to face Tyler.

"Whoa- you look hot." Tyler blurted out.

Peyton laughed in response, taken-aback at his brute honesty, but blushing nonetheless. "Thanks." She smiled, as he took his seat next to Matt and Peyton moved to sit next to Caroline, opposite the two boys.

"So are you ready to order food?" Matt asked, looking at Caroline.

"We can eat now." Caroline nodded, opening the menu and skimming the contents before shutting it and looking to Matt instructing him on what to order, looking at him and Tyler expectantly; picking up on her hinting they got up to order. Caroline turned in her seat, facing Peyton "So this no-Damon thing still stands, right?"

Peyton frowned at her friend, "Well, I'm on a date with Tyler- you tell me? Why are you asking?"

Caroline shrugged, coyly playing with the threads of her red silk top "Because he may or may not be sitting at the end of the bar." Peyton's eyes widened at Caroline's revelation, consciously stopping herself from turning her head to the direction in which Caroline had nodded her head. Caroline watched Peyton, waiting for her to respond; when she said remained silent, she lightly bumped her shoulder with Peyton's, rousing her from her thoughts. "You OK?" she asked, her tone more concerned this time.

Peyton considered; her reason and logic told her that this was the right decision to make- given everything that people had told her about Damon, telling her she should stay away; she had already had the boyfriend treating her like crap experience from Nathan. Damon, she was certain, would be nothing more than a repeat performance that she was unwilling to let herself go through again. This wasn't to mention the fact between her and Damon; they had enough baggage to sink a small ship. In that moment, she made her decision, giving her friend a small nod of assurance; she pushed the feeling of doubt to the back of her mind.

Caroline tilted her head, frowning as she examined Peyton's expression, but any uncertainty she had was interrupted by Matt and Tyler's returning with drinks.

"Food should be ready in twenty minutes." Matt announced. As Tyler sat down, Matt looked at his girlfriend. "You want to play some pool, Car?"

The blonde raised her eyebrows at Matt as if he had suddenly grown a third head. "Not really…"

"You sure?" Matt asked again, widening his eyes at Caroline, waiting for her to catch on.

Caroline's suddenly shot up from her seat. "You know I would love to." She said, as Peyton swivelled her legs out from under the table and Caroline squeezed past. She glanced back at the pair "Let us know when the food is ready."

"Wow…" Tyler remarked as he watched the two of them walk away, inwardly cringing.

"Yeah," Peyton agreed, "subtlety isn't really either of their strong points."

Tyler chuckled "That's putting it lightly."

"Yeah…" Peyton smiled, nodding her head. The seconds of silence that followed seemed to stretch for what felt like hours, until finally, to Peyton's relief, Tyler spoke up.

"Look, I've got to be straight with you. You seem like a great girl, but I'm not really looking for a girlfriend." Tyler explained, unsure of what her reaction would be.

"Oh thank god!" Peyton breathed out a sigh of relief.

Since his relationship with Vicki, the closest he had even got to a relationship was meaningless hook-up's with girls from school. Peyton, he knew, was not the kind of girl that would ever be in that type of relationship. "I mean, nothing against you- I'm just not looking for a serious relationship." Tyler continued, feeling the need to justify himself.

Peyton held out her hands, waving away his reasons, "Seriously, you don't need to explain. I can't say I was looking forward to tonight." She said, only realizing as the words left her mouth how they sounded out loud.

"Ouch!" He responded, feigning insult.

"Oh, wow… not how that was meant to come out!" She back-pedalled, scrunching her eyes together in embarrassment.

Tyler smiling replied good-humouredly, "You know if this is how you treat guys on first dates, I'm not looking forward to our second one."

"Our second date?" She raised an eyebrow at him, "I _barely _agreed to the first one, what makes you think I would agree to put myself through this again?"

Tyler laughed, shaking his head "OK- this is a date, its hardly Kiefer Sutherland-style torture!"

"Hmm…" She replied, pretending to consider for a minute, "you know, torture by Jack Bauer definitely sounds more fun than this."

"Huh- I did not peg you as a 24 fan." He said, impressed at her taste in TV.

She narrowed her eyes, "Why- you see me more of an OC girl?"

"Now that you mention it you do have that girl-next door Marissa vibe about you." He remarked, frowning when she began to laugh uncontrollably, forcing herself to stop when her stomach began to ache.

"Dude, you did not just name a character from The OC!" She said, as she wiped away the tears that had begun to fall down her face.

Tyler groaned, feeling himself blush in embarrassment as he desperately tried to come up with a believable lie "I catch bits of it when commercial breaks are on…" He replied, adding for good measure in hopes that it added to his masculinity, "… when I'm watching basketball games."

Peyton began to laugh again, not believing a word of what he was saying, "Let me guess- you were totally a Ryan fan, weren't you?" She gasped inward, "Did you cry when Marissa died?" She asked, not waiting a reply before she continued "It's OK if you did- their love story was _totally _epic!"

"Are you done?" He grumbled, clearly not sharing her amusement, as he swallowed down the rest of his drink.

"Oh, like I'm going to let you off that easy!" Peyton smiled, finding the evening a lot more enjoyable than she though it would be at the beginning of the date.

"I'm going to get us some more drinks before the food gets here." Tyler sighed, collecting their empty glasses.

"Oh, no- let me." She offered, taking the glasses from him, "When I get back you can tell me all about how you discovered The OC." She said, as she got up and slid out of the booth.

"You tell anyone about this-" Tyler began to warn her.

"Don't worry your secrets safe with me." She interrupted him, letting out a short laugh as she began to walk to the bar.

Peyton reached the table, tapping the wooden frame of the empty bar area, as she sat and patiently waited for someone to appear from the kitchen room doors. She let out a long yawn, just as she sensed out the corner of her eye, someone sit down on the seat to the left of her.

"Mm, I don't blame you- Your date does seem like a bore." Peyton frowned, pursing her lips together and wishing she had let Tyler get the drinks instead. She didn't turn to see who was sitting next to her- she didn't need to. It seemed typical that she hadn't spoken to or even seen Damon in almost a week and when she does, it would be whilst she was on a date. If there was one thing she could always rely on when it came to Damon, it was his uncanny ability to show up when least wanted.

"So when did you and the school kid happen?" He asked, savouring the taste of the last of his bourbon as the amber liquid burnt its ways down his throat. At her lack of reply, he frowned, tilting his head in her direction, his eyes scanned over her posture, the way her right eyebrow was twitching ever so slightly, and her apparent refusal to even look in his direction. He had seen that look before and he knew exactly what it meant. "Wow!" He remarked, widening his eyes, "it's amazing how 60 miles away I still somehow manage to piss you off!"

Peyton rolled her eyes, completely unsurprised that he was utterly clueless as to the reason she was so angry. "Do I at least get a clue?" He asked, waiting for a response before continuing, "…Right, why would I? That would suggest you're talking to me." He nodded his head, "Fine, we can just not talk."

At that moment, a waiter emerged from the kitchen doors, walking around to the bar area, "Sorry for the wait, guys, what can I get you?"

Damon lifted a finger up, motioning between the two of them. "Two of the same."

Peyton widened her eyes, turning to face him, she blurted out "I was here first!"

"'I was here first'- I'm sorry, what are you- 12?" He laughed incredulously.

"Sure, of the two of us- I'm the immature one." She muttered under her breath, but purposely loud enough for him to hear as the waiter set the drinks down in front of the two of them.

"It would save us both a _lot _of time if you just tell me why you're mad at me?"

"Nice trip?" She asked, as he frowned at her blatant disregard to his question.

"Fine… What you'd expect from a trip to Georgia." He answered non-commitedly, sipping from his drink. Her lips pressed together, as she scolded herself for even asking anything; what else did she expect from Damon other than a vague, non-answer. "It rained a lot…" He added, censoring every detail of the trip he knew that he couldn't even go into; which essentially, was the entire trip.

Peyton nodded half-heartedly, disinterested in the conversation already, as she called over to the waiter and ordered the drinks for her table. He raised an eyebrow at her, smiling "I already ordered you a drink."

She exhaled deeply, "I'm not thirsty."

"But you just ordered-" He began, now thoroughly confused.

"OK- let me rephrase; I'm not thirsty... when you are the one that's buying." She answered, staring him squarely in the face with a look that clearly said 'drop it'.

Damon ignored his better judgement, (admittedly ignoring better judgement was a daily mantra for him), and instead continued, "I don't understand why the hell you're not talking to me!" He said, a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice, "I mean the last time we saw each other was…" He trailed off unable to finish the end of the sentence.

But this peaked her interest, "Was what, Damon?" She asked, waiting for him to speak and only when he remained silent did she say what he was clearly too scared to say. "That night- the night I jumped in front of a mad-man for you?" She could hear her voice rising and she tried to calm herself before she continued. "Yeah, I think I vaguely remember that…" She said bitingly.

"You're angry about that night? You said that you didn't blame me- what's the big deal!" He asked, trying his hardest to stop from shouting. His trip to Georgia, it was safe to say, couldn't have gone any worse, and if he wanted to get a lecture from one of the many pissed off people in his life, he would have gone back to the boarding house and taken his chances with Stefan.

Peyton let out a short laugh of disbelief, "that's not why I'm angry, you…idiot!" She finished, exasperated; she had countless stronger words that she could have thrown his way and they both knew it. "I really have to spell it out to you?" At his dumbfounded expression, she sighed in frustration, "OK, then" she relented, "you didn't call… at all. I mean after _everything _that happened, the decent thing to do would have been to call- hell, maybe you could even stretch out for a visit."

He stared at her wide-eyed, waiting for her to finish her little outburst, before asking "Do I get a chance to speak at all. I mean are you done?"

"Oh I haven't even begun." That, it seemed to Damon, was the one thing she had said so far that he happened to agree with.

"I told Stefan to keep an eye on you." Damon explained, sure that once he told her that, then this whole argument, that seemed a little too much like a boyfriend-girlfriend fight for his liking, would be resolved.

"See, there are two things wrong with what you just said." Evidently, he was wrong.

"One," She began, holding out her index finger, "I do not need you, or your brother, or anyone else for that matter to babysit me. And two- how would you even know if anything did happen- you're not even taking his calls."

He frowned, "Since when do you and my brother talk?" He asked, wondering if they managed to find some common ground in bitching about him.

"Please- it's not as if we spend our days talking about all things Damon-related." Okay, now that was just scary. "Believe it or not the entire world does not revolve around you." She continued, as Damon swallowed, genuinely considering whether it was possible for people to read minds.

Damon watched as the tray of drinks was set down in front of Peyton, and knew that she was going to be leave soon and if he was going to fix this, he had to say the right thing- and now. "Fine, you're upset I didn't call you." He stated, reaching into his pocket he got out his phone, watching impatiently from where she sat. She frowned, wondering what he was doing when her phone's ringtone sounded from inside her jacket.

"It's not cute."

"It's a little cute." He smiled at her, as his eyes glazed over; he covered the mouthpieces and whispered across to her, "Answer phone". She pursed her lips as she saw him press 'redial'.

"Really? You're seriously doing this?" She asked, completely unmoved by the 'too little too late' gesture.

"You're seriously not picking up?" He raised his eyebrows, his eyes challenging her.

She sighed, getting out her phone, readying herself to turn it off when Damon grabbed it out of her hands. "Wait a minute…" He frowned, looking up at her, he pressed redial on his phone once again, put it down on the counter and waiting. Within a couple of seconds, he looked at her phone screen and then showed her, as she tried to hold back a smile beginning to grow on her face; reminding herself that she was still very angry. "Asshole calling?" He said, reading the caller ID aloud. He grinned, pleased as he saw as the first sign of genuine happiness crossed Peyton's features for the first time all night, in the form of a slight smile. "What the hell is wrong with Damon?" He asked; his tone a little higher.

"You know, I'm sure that there are many trained professionals that still can't answer that question." She replied, snatching her phone back from him. He smirked in response. Well, he had walked right into that one.

"So… we good?" He asked, looking at her with hopeful eyes.

Peyton cleared her throat, before finally shaking her head. "No."

He scoffed, suddenly angry all over again- _why couldn't she just let it go?_ "At some point, you've got to make up your damn mind, because this whole 'I like you/ I hate you' thing that you've got going on is getting real old."

She let out a hollow laugh, "That's funny- I was just about to tell you this whole 'I like you/I don't want to know you' thing is really starting to confuse the hell out of me." Peyton spat out, grabbing the drinks from the tray, as some of the juice spilt over in the process.

He lifted his hands in resignation, letting out a long sigh. "Have a nice date, sweetheart." His voice conveying many emotions; not one of them was sincerity.

Peyton walked away, shaking her head she called over her shoulder. "Go to hell, Damon." Now that, he thought to himself, _was_ sincere.

* * *

**Authors Note: Apologies for the very little Damon/Peyton in this chapter, and warning that the next chapter will unfortunately be the same. Howeverrrr, chapter 10 will pretty much be 100% Damon/Peyton. I hope you are all still enjoying the story and are still staying with it despite my big lag between updates, (which I am working on). Finally, I just want to say that I really do appreciate everyone that reads and reviews the story- you guys all make it worth it and I really love all the feedback that you guys give me. So to summarize, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read/ review/favourite/subscribe this story**. **You guys are all amazing!**


	9. Come Home, Come Home

**Authors Note: Right, I am very late and I did say quote me if I am, so thank you 'SaraEllis'.Lol. After writing this chapter, and realzing it would be late, I was feeling inspired. And also guilty, hence the double chapter upload. :) Hoping that somehow makes up for it... I do not own OTH, TVD or the song 'Come Home' by One Republic, which this chapter is named after. Enjoy and apologies once again.**

* * *

Damon was in love with Katherine Pierce. This was an absolute truth. Somewhere in the 145 years of existing as vampire, a realization had dawned on him; he was incapable of being anything other than in love with Katherine. He did not want to fall in love with anyone else and he did not want to continue living his life without her. He did not believe in happy endings; they were dull and clichéd, but for her he would make the exception. She was his exception. So, all those years ago when Emily warned him of the imminent danger the founding families posed to Katherine, he made a deal. The deal was that Emily would save her; protect her and in return he would protect Emily's family. And it worked. Emily built a tomb for Katherine to hide in and now, he was going to get her out. Finally, after all these years, he was going to get her out.

...

"Are we at least going to talk about this?" Stefan sighed, following Damon through the lounge and out of the house.

"No time to talk." Damon said, walking to the car and opening the door.

Stefan stepped in front of the car door, stopping Damon from getting in. "Well make time."

Damon stepped back, bemused, "Is this you putting your foot down?"

"I'm being serious, Damon."

"Right, as opposed to your usual self…" Damon joked. At Stefan's humourless expression, Damon considered before finally relenting; he knew he would have to tell Stefan sooner or later. "Get in." Damon motioned to the car once he had side-stepped his brother and entered the drivers side.

When Stefan remained still, Damon began again, "I don't have time for this- you want answers, get in the car." Finally, Stefan walked round the front of the car and got in the passenger seat as Damon sped out the driveway.

...

Stefan's eyes scanned the abandoned forest as he followed Damon down a ditch into a small opening; a stone wall separating them from whatever lay beyond. "You saved them all?" He still couldn't believe it. He knew that Damon had some hidden agenda ever since he had returned to Mystic Falls, that he was hiding something from him. But he had never imagined this could possibly be the reason…

"How?"

"I told you- I made a deal with Emily." He responded simply. Stefan took in Damon's blank expression and could see that he clearly didn't understand the insanity in what he had done- in what he was going to do. "You saved all those vampires?"

"I saved Katherine." Damon replied; he didn't care for the other vampires- if he had a choice, he would have left the rest of the vampires to burn in the church and just have saved Katherine.

"Why?" was all Stefan could manage to get out; still in complete shock as to the fact that there were a handful of blood-deprived vampires trapped behind a tomb, having been stashed there since the mid 1800's.

"Because, Stefan" Damon spat out "there was a massacre against all vampires, including Katherine. Because I had the opportunity to save her and I took it! Unlike some people here, I don't just jump on to the next girl that happens to look exactly like Katherine." As if he suddenly remembered, Damon added as an afterthought. "Actually seeing as we are on that subject, before we start judging me and my unhealthy love life, how about we talk about the fact that the most serious relationship you've had since Katherine happens to be with the perfect human definition of a doppelganger. Now, I don't know about you, but that just seems a little too weird to just be a coincidence."

"This isn't about Elena!"

"You're right- this isn't about Elena. It's about Katherine. See the difference between you and me, brother, is that I have a longer attention span when it comes to the woman I love."

Stefan shook his head, ignoring Damon's condescending tone, he retorted "No, the difference between me and you, Damon, is that I understand there is a line between love and _obsession_."

Damon clenched his jaw, resisting the urge to attack Stefan; he instead turned his head away from him, walking towards the tomb wall. "Why are we even arguing this? _All _I want is Katherine. You can keep the other vampires down there for all I care." He turned as Stefan walked to stand beside him. "Then I'll leave. No games this time." He said seriously, finally putting all jokes aside. "I get Katherine, you get Elena and we get our happy endings as far away from each other as possible."

Stefan raised an eyebrow cynically, "You really believe that you and Katherine will be satisfied with a happy ending?" As much as Damon didn't want to admit it, Stefan knew his brother, and he knew that he couldn't do the normal white-picket fence lifestyle. It wasn't who Damon was. It wasn't who Katherine was.

"I have spent over a century trying to get her back. _She _is what I need to be happy." You help me get her out of the tomb Stefan, and I promise you, I will neverbother you again- you will never have to see me again." Damon said, ignoring the fact that he had never let his brother see him this vulnerable. To get Stefan onboard, he reasoned, he would have to keep his ego in check.

"Damon, it's not that I don't want to-" Stefan sighed. This was, to some extent, true. But he couldn't help Damon because he didn't trust him- his brother had managed to keep the fact Katherine never actually died a secret from him for hundreds of years. He could only imagine what else he was keeping from him.

"Then do it. Stefan, I have never asked you for anything, but I _need _this from you. I am asking you- help me. Help me bring her back."

...

"I can come with you." Caroline offered her eyes hopeful as she sat on the bed, folding the clothes as Peyton tossed them over from the drawers. Peyton raised an eyebrow sceptically at her from across the room. "A road-trip could be fun!"

"I won't be gone long- two days, tops." Peyton replied, grabbing another pair of jeans from the wardrobe and moving over to the bed where Caroline was sat.

"It's not like my mom would care…. Or notice." Caroline finished, muttering under her breath.

"Caroline, I am literally driving there to sign some papers and grab the rest of my things. It really won't be that much of a fun road trip."

"I know that, it's just…" Caroline hesitated, "I don't know, I guess it would be kind of interesting to see where you come from."

Peyton laughed, "Trust me, Tree Hill and 'interesting' should not be used in the same sentence. Obsession with high school basketball, occasional appearing birth mother and dysfunctional families pretty much sum up everything you need to know about Tree Hill." Peyton turned to her friend, and seeing she was still unhappy, Peyton added for good measure "Besides, now you get to spend more time with Matt."

"I guess…"

"God, don't sound too excited." Peyton remarked as she packed up the rest of her things in the overnight bag. At Caroline's vacant expression, Peyton sat down on the bed in front of her. "Hey- what's wrong?"

Caroline bit her lower lip, "You _are_ coming back, aren't you?" She asked tentatively.

"What?" Peyton frowned, completely taken-aback. "Of course I'm coming back. Is that what this has been about?" At Caroline's small nod, Peyton smiled "I'm going over there to sign papers so that the estate agent can rent the house out. That's kind of a big sign that I'm staying here at least a little longer."

"You're sure?" Caroline raised her eyebrows, still not convinced. "I mean, when you left your Flower Hill town," Caroline said, as Peyton stopped herself from laughing out loud, (what was so hard about remembering the name "Tree Hill"?), you didn't tell any of your friends that you were even leaving."

She frowned; she couldn't exactly blame her friend for her paranoia- Caroline did have a point. "That was different. And anyway, I kind of like living here. I love the friend I've made." She smiled as Caroline seemed to visibly relax. "I'm not going anywhere." Peyton jumped back up off the bed, "OK, so now that we've sorted that out, can I have the perky, enthusiastic Caroline back, please?"

"Sure." Caroline smiled, nodding her head. "But the offer is still there if you want some company."

"Duly noted." Peyton replied, as she set about to start packing her bag again.

Caroline watched her friend, debating whether or not she should ask her friend the question she really wanted to know the answer to. In the end the curiosity got the better of her "So… do you think you are going to see any of your old friends?"

Peyton froze in her packing, looking up to Caroline, she sighed before answering honestly "I don't know- probably not." It's not as if she didn't miss Lucas and Nathan and Haley- and even Brooke, despite how they had left things. But at the same time, she didn't even know what she would say to them if they did meet up- or what they had to say to her. She wished she had left things on better terms; or at least said goodbye properly. But leaving was just something that she needed to do. And going back was definitely not something she was looking forward to.

...

Damon heard her coming before she even entered the lounge. He looked up to see Elena walk in, standing cautiously at the entrance, as if she had already planned a quick getaway just in case it was needed.

"Oh this ought to be good…" Damon muttered as he looked back down at the old and tattered pages of the Grimoire and continued to read each page with careful deliberation. So far, there was nothing that he could understand that would be useful in freeing Katherine in the book. And even then it didn't matter because he would need a witch to open the tomb. He was so close.

"Damon, I-"

"Oh no, let me guess… Damon, I'm sorry. Me and Stefan didn't mean to betray you. We were going to give the book to you once we got it." Damon mimicked Elena, in a falsetto voice, as he closed the spell-book and pushing it aside.

Elena shook her head in response, as she began to walk further into the room. "No, we did mean to betray you. Stefan doesn't trust you, Damon." She paused before continuing, "…and neither do I."

"Oh, the saintly duo doesn't trust me?" He smiled, "It's safe to say that the feeling is _entirely_ mutual."

Elena refrained from arguing back, inwardly sighing, before finally saying what she had come here to say. "I spoke to Stefan. We'll help you."

Damon frowned, examining Elena, whilst trying to decide whether or not she was joking. Realizing that she was being deadly serious, Damon let out a genuine, unrestrained laugh. "You really think I'm that stupid?" _Hell, was she really that stupid to think he would even considering trusting her ever again?_

"You need us. If you want to get Katherine back, you need both us."

"Oh yeah, how do you figure that?"

Elena simply shrugged her shoulders, "Stefan said that you need a witch to open the tomb."

Damon snorted, "And you happen to have one up that sleeve of yours?"

"Bonnie." Elena replied, now standing in front Damon; relieved that they were at least having a conversation and he was listening to what she had to say as opposed to just ignoring her or asking her to leave- which is what she assumed would happen.

"That's funny. Now how about someone a little stronger than a pre-schooler?" He asked rhetorically as he leaned back in his chair.

"She's more powerful than you think."

"Oh believe me, that's not exactly too difficult."

He was being stubborn and headstrong; not that she could really blame him. Any remnants of trust that he had in both her and Stefan had vanished the minute they decided to double-cross him. She hesitated, deciding to instead change her tactic. "What about Peyton?"

Well, that definitely caught him off-guard. "Where did she come from?"

"I mean, she seems to care about you…" At that claim alone, Damon let out a stifled laugh; judging by their last encounter, he could safely say that Peyton may have held many feelings toward him; care certainly was not one of them. "And you care about her." She continued, unperturbed by the interruption. This, Damon was unable to argue her on. Yes, he did care for Peyton; he cared whether she lived or died. Because, he had to admit; if only just to himself, she had saved his life. And by default, he was indebted to her. But as for romantic feelings, Katherine was the only woman he ever had any strong feelings of love. Stefan could claim all he wanted; that his feelings for her were 'unhealthy' and 'obsessive', but Damon knew with every fibre of his being that he loved her and only her.

Of course he would never explain this to Elena, if only because he didn't want her to suddenly view him as a human being capable of feeling emotion, so instead he lied. "Peyton means nothing to me. She's irrelevant; I want Katherine." He said; the resolution evident in his expression.

Elena slowly nodded her head, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear; she tried again "Then let us help you get her back."

After what felt like an eternity of silence, Elena finally turned to leave, assuming that she had her answer. It was only when she reached the door that Damon broke silence. "If you even _think _about getting in my way again…" He said threateningly. He didn't need to finish the sentence; Elena understood exactly what he was trying to say to her. She nodded her head slightly, before turning to leave, secretly praying that Damon would open the tomb and save Katherine tonight, for all their sakes. If he didn't, then Elena feared that the chaos and destruction that he had caused when he first arrived in Mystic Falls, would be incomparable to the terror that he would instil into countless innocent lives should he not be reunited with Katherine.

...

Peyton pulled up in her regular space and got out the car, walking slowly, sidling between gravestones; the names she had unconsciously memorized- she had been here that often. From the minute she had passed the Tree Hill signpost, an eerie feeling passed over her. She drove past the same stores she had Brooke used to waste hours in, just passing time. She drove along the same road that she almost ran Lucas over when she first met him; what felt like an eternity ago now. She had so many memories that were tied in with Tree Hill, but at the same time this place felt miles from what she considered 'home'.

Peyton reached her mother's grave, sitting down in her regular worn-out patch on the ground, folding her knees up with her chin resting on her knees. All of a sudden, she felt a rush of emotions overwhelm her, the main one being guilt. "Hey mom. I'm sorry I haven't visited you in a while." She sighed, as tears threatened to fall down her cheeks. "I just…" She began, shaking her head. "I had to leave- I couldn't stay here…" She said, realizing that it was pointless explaining herself, but feeling it was something that she needed to do; if only just to her mom. "And I like living in Mystic Falls, I really do. But that doesn't mean I don't miss Haley, and Nathan. Brooke… And Luke." Peyton let out a shaky breath, waiting a few moments, wiping the tears forming at the edge of her eyes. She realized just then why she was so insistent that Caroline didn't come with her on the trip back to Tree Hill; she just wasn't ready for those two worlds to collide.

Peyton sat in silence for a while, wrapped up in her own thoughts that she was completely oblivious to the pair of footsteps approaching from behind her.

"So you're alive then…" A voice sounded from behind her and startling her; she turned around. Her eyes widened in surprise, as she saw Nathan standing behind her, with his hands in his pockets, looking at her expectantly.

She stood up; looking at the last person she expected to see here of all places. "Nate…I… What are you doing here?" was all she managed to get out.

He gave her a slight smile, "Funny, I was just going to ask you the same thing." Peyton frowned, unsure how to address her friend. A part of her wanted to jump into his arms and not let go; the part that missed her friends and wanted everything to go back to the way it was before. But, she knew that first they were going to have the awkward conversation that she would rather have avoided that involved a lot of why's and where's.

So, before he could start in with his line of questioning, Peyton got in first, "How did you know I would be here?"

"I was jogging by your house yesterday morning and I saw the rent sign in front of it. When I went inside, a woman showing a family around said that someone was coming by today to sign the papers. And then when I went there today she said I just missed you; I figured this was the next place that you would visit." He explained patiently.

Peyton nodded her head slowly. When she got to Tree Hill in the morning, she tried avoiding all main roads and driving past places like Karen's café and Tree Hill High, and in the end Nathan ended up finding her at the one place they both knew she would never avoid.

"So, is it my turn now?" Nathan asked, wondering why he wasn't angrier at her. The day after Peyton had left and Haley found the letter addressed to them, they both thought it was a practical joke. Leaving in the middle of the night, without telling anyone where you were going or even why just didn't seem like something Peyton would do. But then weeks went by and they didn't hear anything from her and worry soon turned to anger. "Where the hell have you been, Sawyer?"

"I- I couldn't stay here…" She said, thinking to herself that it sounded even lamer out loud than it did in her head.

"Why not?"

Peyton pursed her lips, realizing he wouldn't just accept the 'its complicated' answer that she wanted to give. "I just… I needed to leave. I got into this fight with Brooke …" She began, unsure how much of the details Nathan actually knew, "and you had Haley, Lucas and Brooke had each other. I felt _so _alone…" She finished, her voice barely a whisper.

"And you thought leaving would make you feel better?" He asked back in disbelief; when she had left, his mind conjured up dozens of reasons as to why she left, but that definitely wasn't one of them. "I mean, how would you feel if I left without telling anybody where I was going or why- without even saying goodbye." Peyton opened her mouth to answer before Nathan cut her off again, "and a two-page letter really doesn't cut it."

"I'm sorry." She replied softly; knowing that her apology was both useless and way overdue.

"You could have talked to me, Peyton. You were the one that was there for me after Haley left to go on tour last year and I was in a really bad place." He frowned, shaking his head at her, "You should've come to me. Whatever was going on, I could've been there for you." He said, a strange feeling of relief passing over him after finally telling her what he had wanted to tell her for months now.

Peyton stood, motionless, as a single tear began to fall across her cheek. Nathan closed his eyes, suddenly feeling guilty; yes, he was angry but he didn't mean to take out all of his frustrations on Peyton. It was the first time he had seen or spoken to her in months and lecturing her was not how he imagined this conversation would go. "Look, why don't we go to Karen's and talk- I'm sure she would love to see you."

Peyton's head shot up, "I can't. Nate, I just can't…" She said, her eyes silently pleading with his.

He stared at her in silence for a while, half-angry and half-sympathetic, before finally suggesting "OK, then we can drive somewhere out of town."

At this, she nodded her head as he smiled in response. She began walking towards him, in the direction of her car. "Thank you." She said, smiling up at him.

He slung his arm over hers, as they walked in time "Don't thank me just yet- I'm still pissed off."

...

Stefan wandered over to Damon, frowning when he saw him talking into his phone in a hushed voice. Stefan managed to catch Damon saying the words "So, goodbye, I guess." before Damon shut his phone, turning to Stefan and greeting him with a look of distaste. "Anyone ever tell you it's rude to listen in on other people's conversations?"

Stefan pretended to consider his question, before answering "Actually, I tell you that on multiple occasions, in fact…"

"Then, have you ever heard the phrase 'practice what you preach'?"

Stefan laughed in response, "Well, there's something that I never expected to hear you ever tell me."

Damon smiled despite his less than warm feelings towards his brother, "So, any particular reason why you're here…"

"Elena just rang- she spoke to Bonnie. She's agreed to open the tomb." Stefan explained, still surprised at how quickly all of this had come together.

And it seemed Damon was just as paranoid. "Really?"

Stefan shrugged his shoulders, "She's not doing it for you, she's doing it for Elena. Elena's doing it because I think she's hoping that after this her life can go back to normal." Though both he and Damon knew that Elena's life would never go back to 'normal'- that was the price she had to pay for having a witch best friend and vampire boyfriend.

"And why are you doing it? I'm assuming it's not some newfound brotherly loyalty that's just kicked in."

Stefan considered, before answering simply "I'm kind of hoping that you'll change your mind."

Damon smirked, "Just like that?"

"It's been almost 150 years, so no- not 'just like that'." When Damon just rolled his eyes, Stefan continued "I don't know… I just thought that you had finally moved on from her." He answered honestly; Stefan knew that if anyone was capable of it, Damon was someone who literally could hold a grudge against someone forever. But he always thought, in time, once he had finally mourned Katherine's death and move on, then maybe their relationship finally had a chance to be restored to what is used to be. And up until recently, he truly believed Damon was beginning to leave the past exactly where it belonged.

"And I assume by 'moving on' you mean Peyton?" Damon asked; why everyone kept mentioning her he had no idea. Well, maybe he did, but that wasn't the point. "I swear if I hear 'she cares about you' or 'you have feelings for her' from _another _person today…" Damon began, irritated that everyone seemed to think that they had some grand insight into his life.

"She saved your life." Stefan argued; knowing that was the one thing that he could say that Damon could not dispute.

"Yes, she did."

"And you owe her because of that." Stefan continued.

"I do." Damon replied, wondering if he and his brother agreeing on something two times in a row must be some kind of record for the two of them.

"And that's all there is to it?"

"That's all there is to it." Damon replied, after a moment's hesitation that he was hoping Stefan didn't catch. He stood there, waiting for Stefan to disagree with him or argue the point more, but his brother simply stared at him for a moment before nodding his head slowly.

It was a lie; they both knew it, but it seemed neither was willing to call the other out on it. So, eventually Stefan decided to say what he thought Damon needed to hear. "Then let's get Katherine out."

...

Peyton shook her head in disbelief, "I can't believe that for a while you thought you were going to be a father. That's…. wow."

"Yeah, well I didn't handle it too well- Haley can back me up on that." Nathan laughed; he was definitely still paying for that one. The pregnancy scare certainly put things in perspective for him; he loved Haley, and one day he wanted to have a family with her, but he also had dreams. He wanted to play in the NBA; he wanted Haley to pursue her music career. He knew one day that he would have a family with Haley, but high school just wasn't that time. "So…" He began, as he watched Peyton play with the remainders of her food, "we've talked about me and Haley, my relationship with Dan, my mom… you going to tell me what you've been up to these last couple of months?"

Well, she thought to herself, she couldn't put off answering where she had been or why she had left Tree Hill for that much longer. "I left Tree Hill," she began, realizing how unnecessary her first statement was, "enrolled at another high school- I'm even still cheerleading, believe it or not."

"Basketball?" He asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Football."

"Not the same…" He replied, now less enthusiastic.

"No, it's not the same." She shook her head, suddenly talking about a lot more than just the football.

He nodded his head in understanding, "But you're happy there, right?"

"Yeah, the town is great; I've made some really good friends." She answered. "But I miss you all. I miss Tree Hill."

"Then come back." Nathan replied, taking the opportunity to say what he had been desperately trying to stop himself from saying to her for the last couple of hours that they had been sitting and talking.

"I can't. I just had a _really_ bad year, and it felt like there was no-one I could turn to. I couldn't stay here." She explained, shaking her head, "I felt like I was just going to… break, if I stayed here."

Nathan frowned, conflicted by his feelings of anger that she thought she couldn't talk to him and guilt at not seeing sooner just how upset she was. Even though he disagreed how she went about it, he didn't want to waste any more time arguing about her leaving. Instead he moved on to the next thing that was confusing him. "So you haven't asked about Lucas or Brooke."

"You didn't mention them." She shrugged away the comment- it seemed that they were moving from one awkward topic of conversation to another.

"Well, I was trying to avoid talking about them until you asked."

"So, how are they?" Peyton asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"They're good." Nathan answered simply. There was obviously something that Peyton wasn't telling him that had happened between the three of them.

"That's good."

"Actually, Lucas isn't doing so good."

"Why? What's wrong?" Peyton asked; her tone laced with concern.

"He hasn't been handling Keith's death well." Nathan replied, trying to downplay it as much as possible. 'not handling it well' was definitely putting it lightly- Lucas was a mess. He decided to leave out the details regarding Lucas' claim that Jimmy wasn't the one responsible for Keith's death. "He could have really done with you around." Nathan said, not meaning for it to come across as a guilt-trip, but more as a fact.

"There was nothing I could have done."

"Probably not, but you and Lucas- you always know exactly the right things to say to each other." Nathan responded, thinking back to how when he and Peyton used to go out, he used to envy the connection his brother and girlfriend shared. As Peyton remained silent, Nathan continued "not to mention that like the rest of us, he's been worried sick about you."

"Have you told anyone that I'm back?" Peyton asked; her heart in her throat as she waited for him to answer.

"No." He answered, shaking his head "I assume you don't want anyone to know?" At Peyton's silence, he asked "How long are you here for?"

"I'm leaving today." She half-whispered, looking down at her coffee; scared to see his reaction.

"When are you coming back…. For good?"

"I don't know, Nate." She replied, noting his stoic expression.

"But you're coming back, right? You're not just going to stay hidden wherever the hell you are staying forever?" He asked, not wanting to put any pressure on her to return as he knew he had already made her feel guilty enough as she could about leaving.

"I don't know." She answered after a long pause.

"Well even if you don't need us, we need you." He said, smiling as he finished "_I_ need you." She nodded her head, smiling in response as the waitress lay the bill down on the table between the two of them. She looked down at it, "I got this." She said, searching around her bag for her purse, she pulled out her phone as a result.

"New phone?" Nathan asked unnecessarily; when Peyton had left Tree Hill, she had also changed her number; she figured a clean break would make everything easier.

"Nathan, I-" She began.

"It's OK," He said, holding his hands up, "you don't need to explain." He told her, as he reached into his pocket for his wallet to pay the bill "And you spent money on gas, I might as well foot the bill for the meal." He reasoned.

"Thanks." She smiled weakly, as she took her phone from the table, frowning when she saw three missed calls and two voicemail messages displayed on her screen. Nathan watched her from across the table, taking the money and receipt, he got up "It's OK- you check your phone, I'll pay for this."

She watched as he left the table before connecting to voicemail; the first missed call was from Caroline, presumably just to check if she arrived safely, the second two calls however, were from the two people she least expected to call her in her contact list. Peyton drummed her fingers against the table as she waited for the first message to play, though when it finally did, Peyton was so confused by it that she replayed the message. After hearing it for a second time, and it still not making any sense to her, she decided to listen to the second voicemail, just as Nathan re-joined the table. The second message made as little sense as the first, but she realized something was clearly wrong. Nathan, who had been watching her since he got back to the table, frowned "Something wrong?"

"I'm not sure…" She replied truthfully. "I'm sorry, Nate, I think I have to go."

"So soon?" He exclaimed, thinking that they would have had more time to catch up; hoping he had more time to convince her to come back- if not now, then at least eventually.

"I know." She replied, also wishing that she could stay longer, realizing that talking to Nathan had just made her more homesick. "Something's happened, and I have to go back."

"Okay." Nathan nodded.

"Do you need a lift back into town?" Peyton asked, suddenly remembering that she had driven them both to the random restaurant on the outskirts of Tree Hill.

Nathan shook his head, "It's fine- I'll get Hales or Lucas to pick me up."

At Peyton's fleeting panicked expression, he re-assured her. "If you don't want anyone to know, then I'm not going to tell them you were here."

As Peyton stood up to leave, Nathan also got up from the table. "But you could always give me your new number- at least to let me know that you got back to the mystery town you won't name safely." Peyton bit her lip, initially hesitant. "Or you don't have to- I don't want to feel like I'm forcing you to give it to me."

Peyton considered, before reaching into her bag for a pen and scribbling her number on a scrap piece of paper, she handed it over to Nathan. "Thank you." She said, standing awkwardly in front of him, unsure how to say goodbye, until he engulfed her in a hug. "I've missed you, Sawyer."

She smiled into his chest, "I've missed you too." She replied, as she pulled out of the hug and the two of them just stared at each other for a moment longer before she finally gathered up the courage to turn around and leave. As she walked out of the restaurant and towards her car in the parking lot, she tried to think of other things, as one all-consuming fear overcame her about how long it would be until she would see Nathan again. Then an even worse thought came to her head as she tried to answer how long it would take, if ever, for her to finally be ready to return to Tree Hill for good.

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**Author's note: I can actually say move straight onto the next chapter... **


	10. Be my friend

**Author's note: I do not own either shows, or the song 'Breathe me' by Sia, which this title is named after (and also basically describes exactly how Damon feel's in this chapter, probably better than I ever could!)**

* * *

Damon stared absent-mindedly into the burning fire in the Salvatore mansion. Unanswered questions and unwanted thoughts whirled around his head. He had spent so long holding onto the belief that Katherine was trapped in a tomb waiting for him to come and save her, when all along she had alive and free.

Finally deciding that he couldn't sit around thinking about it all any longer, he stood up to leave; only then realizing that Stefan had been sitting on the adjacent sofa the entire time. His brother looked at him expectantly, waiting to see what he would do. Without saying a word, Damon walked out of the house, grabbing his car keys and jacket as he left. He didn't know where he was going to go but he knew that it would be a place that stocked plenty of alcohol.

….…..

Peyton's car sped down the interstate, as she opened the window, trying to fight the exhaustion taking over her body. As her eyes began to drift closed, she heard her cell phone ring, keeping one hand on the wheel she reached across to the passenger seat, looking at the caller ID.

"You're not back yet?" was the first thing Peyton heard as soon as she opened her phone.

"Yeah, I ran into a friend; I left not too long ago so I should get back in a couple of hours." Peyton explained, glad for the company to keep her alert while she was driving.

"Tired?"

"Try exhausted." Peyton answered, as she lowered the music sounding from the radio.

"Why didn't you just stay there for the night and come back in the morning?"

"Well, I got a weird call from Damon followed by an even weirder call from Stefan." Peyton replied, as she stifled a yawn.

"What were they saying?" Caroline asked, intrigued.

"I'm not too sure yet… I'll let you know when I get back." Peyton answered, already having spent the last half hour trying to make sense of the messages that had been left for her. "Anyway, enough about me- what have you been up to?"

"I went to a party with Matt and Tyler."

"Weren't you moaning _just _today about that history essay that's due in next week?" Peyton asked, as she put the phone on loudspeaker and rested it on the dashboard.

"Yeah. What's your point?"

Peyton smiled, "nothing, it's just your commitment to school is admirable."

"I would lay off the sarcasm if I were you considering your unadmirable friend is going to stay up half the night on the phone to you to make sure your scrawny ass doesn't fall asleep at the wheel."

Peyton smiled, "Did I mention how much of an awesome friend you are?"

"No you did not." was the reply she heard through the phone.

"By the way, you do know 'unadmirable' isn't a word right?" At Caroline's pointed silence, Peyton finished "Officially shutting up now."

…..

Peyton pulled over on the side of the road as she heard sirens in the distance, watching as an ambulance passed by. She had got off the phone to Caroline once she had passed the Mystic Falls sign and told her she would ring her tomorrow. Before setting off again on the way to her apartment, she got out her phone deciding she would ring Stefan now, hoping it wasn't too late.

The dial tone rang twice before she heard Stefan pick up on the other end of the phone. "Hey Peyton."

"Hi. I hope I'm not calling too late- I was out of town when I got your message and it sounded important- I only just got back now." Peyton explained, looking at her watch and realizing it was almost 1am.

She heard Stefan sigh from the other side of the phone, "God, I'm sorry. You didn't have to come back tonight. I shouldn't have called you." He said, having regretted ringing Peyton since the moment he put down the phone.

"It's fine, Stefan. Is everything okay… with Damon?" Peyton asked cautiously; the message Stefan had left her didn't explain much, just that "something bad" had happened and Damon wasn't taking it well.

"Yeah… Well, no not really. Look, just forget I rang you- I shouldn't have bothered you with this."

Peyton frowned, sensing, even over the phone that Stefan was stressed. "Where is he now?"

"I have no idea. He went out a couple of hours ago- he didn't say where he was going." Peyton hesitated, unsure of how to respond. Whatever interactions she had seen between the two of them and going off what Damon had to say about his relationship with his brother, it seemed strained at best. But she understood in that moment that the feelings of hatred Damon gave off that the brothers held towards one another weren't completely accurate.

"You know, I'm sure that there's nothing to worry about. He'll probably come rolling in at 5am completely wasted." Stefan finally broke the silence.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Peyton smiled weakly. "Just let me know when he shows up."

"Of course," Stefan responded, "and I'm sorry again for bothering you."

"No problem. I'll speak to you soon."

"Yeah. Bye."

Peyton hung up the phone and started up the engine, looking over her shoulder for any cars on the barren road, before pulling out and driving the extra 10 minutes it took to get to her apartment.

Peyton grabbed a couple of bags full of clothes and photos she had packed from her house in Tree Hill. Deciding she would get the rest of the bags in the morning, she shut the door and headed towards her apartment building.

The stench of alcohol hit her before she even saw him, sprawled out in the hallway; in front of her door, barely conscious. She tentatively walked up to him, wondering if he was even sober enough to notice her presence. As she reached him, she dropped her bags to the floor, one deliberately landing on his foot, causing him to jump up in alarm. Oh yeah, he was definitely drunk.

He slowly opened his eyes, looking up to find Peyton hovering over him, a serious expression on her face with her hands on her hips. "I thought you were avoiding me." Damon drawled out, rubbing his eyes, whilst resting his head against the door jam.

"Or I could've just been sleeping." Peyton replied, wondering why Stefan had been so worried about his brother- other than being more intoxicated than usual, there seemed to be nothing wrong with Damon.

"I saw Caroline before and she said you were out of town- I just assumed she was lying. Then when I tried to call you, I figured you didn't want to talk to me." He continued, ignoring her comment. "Where were you?"

Peyton crouched down, so she was eye-level with Damon, she tilted her head. "You're a mess." She told him.

"You really know how to kick a man when he's down, don't you?" He smiled, before asking again "Where were you?"

"I was out of town." At Damon's probing look; as probing a look as Damon could make, given the state he was in, Peyton specified. "I went home." She said, before quickly amending her answer, "Tree Hill."

"You went home or Tree Hill?" He asked, tilting his head to mirror her actions.

"There's a difference?"

"Home is where the heart is at." He replied, dazed for a minute, before swallowing as if he was remembering some painful memory, "I thought I was going home tonight. It turns out…" He trailed off, apparently unable or unwilling to finish the sentence.

"You always make this much sense when you're drunk?" She said, as she reached into her pocket for her phone.

"Oh, I'm not drunk." He stated, shaking his head in exaggerated, slow movements. "I am tipsy, Peyton Sawyer- there is a whole _world _of difference." He said, watching as she nodded her head half-heartedly, whilst fidgeting on her phone. "What are you doing?"

She looked up at him briefly, "I am ringing your brother, so he can drive your 'tipsy' ass back home." She answered, scrolling through the names in her contact list. "What the hell are you doing?" She exclaimed as Damon snatched the phone out of her hand.

"I can't deal with Stefan right now." He answered simply, as she wrestled with him to retrieve her phone. Just as she made a grab for it, he pulled it out of reach, causing her to topple onto him, holding her hands out to balance herself against his chest. The smell of bourbon was instantly over-powering, attacking her nostrils and dizzying her senses. Peyton met his piercing blue eyes with her own searching green eyes; neither of them uncomfortable with the close proximity in which their bodies were in. They sat there in a relaxed silence, staring openly at each other until Peyton finally whispered "Now, I know something is wrong- normally, by now, you would have made a move."

"I would have… And you would have pushed me away." Damon replied, watching as she detached herself from him and picked up her bags that lay discarded on the floor. She then produced the keys out of her pocket, as he asked her from the floor, "You ever spent your whole life believing something and then find out that it was a lie. That your whole life was a lie."

Peyton sighed as she opened the door to her apartment, throwing the bags into the general darkness inside, she looked at Damon. "Conversations like this are not meant to be started at 1'o clock in the morning. You're drunk. Go home, sleep it off and in the morning you won't even remember this night ever happened."

"Please, Peyton." He said; his pleading tone catching Peyton off-guard.

She considered for the briefest of moments, just going inside her apartment and locking the door. When she realized that she probably wouldn't get much sleep now anyway, knowing he was sitting outside her door, she eventually slid down the wall to sit next to him. "I found out that I was adopted this year. My birth mother, Ellie, came to visit me in the summer. For the longest time, I was _so _angry at my dad for lying to me. Looking back, I spent so much of my energy into being angry when I could have just spent that time getting to know her."

"What happened?" Damon asked, startling her from her thoughts of regret.

"She died." Peyton replied softly, staring off into the distance. Peyton was grateful when Damon remained quiet. There was no 'I'm sorry for your loss', no 'are you okay?', just the simple silence that resulted from the recognition that there was absolutely nothing 'right' or 'good' to say to what she had told him.

"So…" She began, "are you going to tell me why I come back to see you passed out at my door?"

Damon turned his head to look at her and narrowed his eyes. "How was the trip?"

Peyton smiled; she knew when to take a hint and he clearly didn't want to talk about it. "It was good… What you'd expect from a trip to Tree Hill…. It rained a lot." She copied, as best as she could remember, what he had told her when she asked why he had gone to Georgia just the week before. Damon, however, did not seem to notice as he just nodded his head slowly in response. So, she began again "I ran into an old friend, which was…unexpected."

"Lover-boy?" He asked, suddenly more interested in the conversation.

Peyton rolled her eyes. "No."

"The ex-best friend?"

"How about you stop guessing?" Peyton replied, mildly irritated; though she couldn't exactly blame him- he obviously didn't even realize what he was saying was annoying her.

"Okaaaay!" He lifted his hands up in surrender. "You think you're going to go back?"

Peyton shrugged her shoulders; three people had asked her that question today and she still couldn't give a definitive answer.

Damon frowned, before asking "Do you _want_ to go back?"

Well, that was the first time anybody had asked her that question. Did she want to go back? There were some days she would spend in Mystic Falls where she felt completely homesick; sometimes for the town itself, and sometimes just for the people. But when she went back today, the town didn't feel the same. It felt like a town she used to know, but had long since forgotten about her. Did she want to go back? Sure. "Sometimes." She sighed, adding "But I don't think I'm going back anytime soon." They sat in silence for another short stretch of time before Peyton stood up and began walking into the apartment.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm getting a jacket." She answered, shouting over her shoulder, as she turned the switch on in her apartment, flooding light into the relative dimness of the hallway, as Damon shielded his eyes before they eventually re-adjusted.

"Yeah, well don't expect me to offer. The last jacket I gave you ended up being soaked in blood." He called into the apartment.

"You know, Damon, as I was lying there with blood pouring out of my body, I was thinking the exact same thing- '_god_, I hope his jacket makes it through this!'" She deadpanned.

"I'm glad!" He remarked, "dry cleaning bills don't come cheap."

"Well, believe me when I say that paying you back for that is my number one priority." She said as she re-emerged from the apartment with a hoodie, pulling it over her head. When he didn't reply, she looked down at him, seeing his eyes were shut. She kicked him not so gently in his shin, watching as his eyes snapped open again. "How much did you drink tonight?"

"Enough that the bartender cut me off." Damon answered, though however much he had drank it clearly wasn't enough, as he felt his buzz beginning to wear off.

"Wow." She sighed, folding her arms and leaning against the wall, as she continued to stare at him.

"I know! I'm practically a regular, you would think they would show me a little more respect."

"Yeah, that wasn't exactly what I meant." She replied. "I'm going to get you some water." She told him, as she re-entered her apartment, hoping it would sober him up.

As if he were reading her mind, he called out to her. "If you think one glass of water is going to counteract the amount of alcohol I have drunk then you are _seriously_ mistaken."

"Well, it's a start." She replied, returning with a tall glass and a jug filled to the brim with water. "Drink up." She said, handing him the glass and pouring water into it.

Reluctantly he began to take small sips of the water, "What were they saying? The friend that you spoke to?"

Peyton shrugged, as she sat back down. "Not much. He was angry as hell about me leaving… Not that I can blame him."

"He was angry because you left?" Damon frowned in confusion.

"More because of the way I left- didn't leave them a number. He was worried." She sighed, rubbing her eyes. She added, "Stefan's worried about you."

Damon turned his head to face her momentarily, before tilting it back to stare at the wall opposite them. "You shouldn't let him fool you. Stefan is constantly worried about… something. Today it's me; tomorrow it will be the cat that got stuck in a tree. My brother is not happy unless he has something to worry about."

"That's not how he sounded to me." Peyton replied simply.

"When did you talk to him?"

"He rang me a couple of hours ago. He sounded scared… for you."

Damon shook his head, "He shouldn't have rung you. He shouldn't have bothered you."

Peyton smiled, "You're right- he shouldn't have rung me. I mean, you showing up at my apartment well past midnight and completely passed out is definitely not too much bother. But a phone call- god no…" She argued, as he just remained silent, at a loss for what to say. She reached over, pouring more water in his glass. "I didn't say you could stop drinking."

"Why are you so moody today?" He asked, doing as he was told and swallowing down the water in large gulps.

"Lets see… Exhaustion, lack of sleep, making sure that I don't have to drive you to the hospital to get your stomach pumped… Take your pick." Peyton said, holding out her fingers and counting as she began to list each of the reasons.

"Forget I asked." He said, groaning as he watched her pour him another glass of water once he had finished the first glass. "I don't think this water is a good idea." Damon said, though, even as he said it, he began to take small sips.

"Why's that?"

"Because, the alcohol is beginning to wear off and the more I drink of this, the less drunk I feel." Damon sighed.

"Well, that's kind of the point."

"I need to be drunk. When I'm drunk, I feel numb." He explained, not quite ready to come to terms with the harsh truths and cold reality that faced him when he was clear-headed. Once he was lifted from his drunken haze, his mind would return to Katherine and the rational thought that informed him that everything that he thought they shared together had been a lie. The one saving grace that he had clung onto during his 160 years of existing was her; and what he felt for her. And the love that he thought she felt for him. He could not deal with the knowledge that it had all been lies.

"Spoken like a true alcoholic." She remarked, realizing that maybe Stefan's concern for his brother wasn't as misplaced as she originally thought.

He laughed, as if he were enjoying his own private joke before saying "Alcohol is really not my choice of poison that you need to be worried about."

Peyton raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, as she emptied the contents of the jug into his glass and getting up "I'm going to get some more water." She said, walking into the apartment, moving to the kitchen area. She filled the jug, looking at her watch and seeing it was almost 1.45am. She exhaled deeply, searching through the cupboards as she turned the kettle on to boil. After another couple of minutes of waiting she poured herself a steaming hot mug of coffee. Eventually, she walked out of the apartment, holding the jug in one hand and the coffee in the other, placing them both on the floor beside her as she sat back down. "I swear to god Damon, if you've fallen asleep again." She said, as she noted his non-moving silhouette.

"She wasn't there." Damon whispered, finally saying the words he had been afraid to say out loud all night.

"What?" Peyton frowned, wrinkling her brow in confusion. She turned her head in Damon's direction. She was caught-off guard when she no longer saw the drunk and care-free Damon that she had left just moments earlier. Instead, now he just looked sad.

"I needed her to be there. I _needed_…" He said, his voice breaking slightly as he finished. "…her."

Peyton moved across the floor, sitting cross-legged so she was facing him. She took in his dishevelled appearance; his vacant eyes, yet pained expression. She was unsure when it had happened, but it was if a switch had flipped and suddenly everything he was saying was no longer the ramblings of a drunken man, but the ramblings of a person who had just had his heart broken.

"She wasn't there." He said again, closing his eyes as he replayed the memory over again in his head.

"Damon, I…" She began, unsure what to say. But, in the end it didn't matter, as he started again.

"Stefan didn't love her. I know he didn't- he told me."

"Katherine." Peyton sighed, suddenly understanding slightly more what he was talking about, and why Stefan rang her, telling her that he was worried about his brother.

His eyes shot up to meet hers at the mention of her name. "Stefan didn't love her. But I did. I loved her. It didn't mean anything to him. And…" He inhaled slowly, "it didn't mean anything to her. But I _loved _her. It meant something to me. It was real for me."

Peyton looked at him with a mixture of empathy and sadness. She frowned, as his eyes drifted off once again, thinking of some painful memory that he didn't seem to want to share. "We can talk about this inside. Why don't you come i-"

Peyton began to say, jumping when Damon suddenly shouted "No!" placing a finger over her mouth to stop her from saying anything more. "You can't." He said, shaking his head, suddenly a lot more alert than she had seen him all night.

"What are you talking to about?" She said once she had removed his hand from in front of her mouth, watching as it fell unintentionally on her knee.

"You can't invite me in." He told her sternly.

"Damon, I-" She knitted her brows together in confusion.

"If you invite me inside, I don't know what I would do." He began, aware, even in his drunken stupor, that if Peyton invited him in, no good would come of it. "I don't trust myself- not when I'm in this state. You need to promise me that you're not going to invite me in." He said, leaning his head forward and staring at her apprehensively.

"You're not making any sense."

Damon nodded his head quickly in agreement, "I know, just promise you won't invite me in tonight."

Eventually Peyton gave in. "Okay. I won't invite you in."

"Thank you." He breathed out a short sigh of relief, grateful for the short reprieve, distracting him from the thoughts that seemed to haunt him in every silence that filled the air. But all too soon, the silence returned and so did his thoughts.

"I've spent so many years hating the wrong person. I blamed Stefan for Katherine dying. I put all my energy into hating him. _All _of this has been because of her. I hate her." He said, as his eyes grew darker. There it was. In the space of 24 hours, he had gone from loving her unconditionally to hating her more than he had hated even his father or Stefan in the past.

Peyton placed her hand on top of his that was resting on her knee. Using her other hand, she lifted his face so he was looking at her. "Tell me what I can do. What can I do to fix this?" She asked, never in her life feeling so desperately helpless. She knew that there was absolutely nothing that she could do. There was no quick fix. But in that moment, she meant it. If there was anything that she could do to fix how he was feeling, she would. She had never seen him so vulnerable before. It was as if the act he put on to try and hide the fact that he actually felt. That he actually hurt. That act just fell away and what was left of him was so… broken.

He gave her an expressionless stare, as she let the hand framing his face fall to her side. "The only thing that I want is for that manipulative bitch to burn in hell."

"You don't mean that." She shook her head.

"Oh, I _really_ do. Don't believe for a second that I'm just saying this in the spur of the moment or because I'm drunk. I hate her." He said with a finality in his tone that she couldn't argue with.

Peyton pursed her lips, resisting the urge to ask what had happened to bring about this newfound rush of hatred. She knew that if he wanted to tell her, then he would and that asking him wouldn't make any difference if he didn't want to talk about it. "You won't feel like this forever." She stated; it was the only half-truth that she could offer him.

"Right and you're speaking from experience?" He replied in a condescending tone. "You have no _idea_ how I feel."

"Loving someone who could never love you back? I think I know a thing or two about how you feel." Peyton countered defensively, not liking the angry tone he was speaking to her in.

"You know what, you're right. So, what exactly do you suggest?" Before she could answer, he continued, "Oh I know, maybe I should leave town and just run away from all my problems." He replied angrily, instantly regretting the words once they had left his mouth.

She huffed out her sudden irritation, standing up to leave. "Screw you, Damon! I'm not going to just sit here and be the scapegoat because the real person you're pissed at isn't alive for you to shout at them." She shouted, as she walked away.

He grabbed her wrist forcefully from where he sat, but still holding onto her lightly enough so that if she wanted to walk away she could. "Wait. I'm sorry." He said, knowing she had called it; he was taking his anger out on her, because he couldn't take it out on who it was really intended for. "I'm sorry." He whispered again.

She shut her eyes, freeing herself from Damon's grasp, debating whether she would get much sleep right now if she just slammed the door in his face. However, eventually she stood in front of him, reaching out her hand. "Come on." She sighed deeply.

"Where are we going?" He asked, staring at her outstretched arm.

"I'm driving you home."

"I don't want to go home." He said, slowly shaking his head from side to side.

"Well, tough!" She replied, reaching out and grabbing him by the wrists, half-pulling him up from the floor. He watched as she locked her apartment, turning the light off inside and followed her down the dimly-lit hallway and out of the apartment building. A cold gust of air blew past both of them; one scrunching her body together in attempt to protect herself from the cold, whilst the other continued to walk, completely unaffected.

Once they were in her car, Peyton put the key in the engine, starting the ignition. Only then, did she notice his car parked across the road. "Please do not tell me you drove here in this condition."

"Relax." He replied coolly, "I have quick reflexes- if there is anyone you have to trust behind the wheel, it's me." All of a sudden, he had switched back to the drunk Damon she had first met in his hallway. It was like the cold air and change of scenery suddenly detached him from that moment and those feelings; the cool façade was back and that fleeting moment of vulnerability suddenly felt imagined on Peyton's part.

"Yeah, well excuse me if I don't share your confidence." She replied sarcastically, as she pulled away from the curb, driving on the otherwise empty road.

Damon turned his head, noticing the bags lying in the backseat. Out of curiosity, he picked up the photo album that lay on top of one of the bags, opening a page at random and squinting as he brought it inches from his face. He then held the photo against the window, as they drove past streetlights, attempting to see it in better light.

Peyton glanced in his direction. "Sure, you can go through my personal property." She muttered under her breath.

"Is this your dad?" He asked, looking at a photo of Peyton that looked like it had been taken only a couple of years ago, with an older man.

Peyton briefly looked at the picture he held up for her to look at, nodding her head.

"Huh…" He commented, "He doesn't look like much."

"What did you expect?" She said, silently cursing as she just caught a red light.

Damon shrugged his shoulders, answering truthfully "I thought he would be younger… and stronger-looking."

"You think about my dad often?" Peyton asked, raising an eyebrow, as the lights ahead of her turned green.

"Probably more than I should." He thought to himself quietly.

The rest of the journey was mostly silent; Peyton begrudgingly let him flip through the photo album, in the hopes that it would take his mind off Katherine and whatever else had happened tonight. After another fifteen minutes of driving, Peyton found herself slowing the car down as she pulled into the driveway.

Damon shut the album, sighing deeply as he stared at the house silently before eventually opening the car door and stumbling out of the car. Peyton watched him fumble with his house keys for a couple of minutes before getting out of the car, wordlessly taking them off him and walking up to the door, preparing to unlock the door just as Stefan opened it from the other side. He looked between the two of them before his eyes finally rested on his brother, opening the door wider for him to go in, as he walked down to greet Peyton.

"Is he okay?" Stefan asked, as Peyton noticed the bags under his eyes, from lack of sleep.

"No. He's not okay." She shook her head, running her fingers through her hair.

From where he had collapsed on the porch steps, Damon sounded "He's also not deaf. So maybe wait till I get inside, at least, before the concerned speeches about my well-being are exchanged." He pushed himself up, using the wall for support as he began to walk into the house. "Now, if you will excuse me- there are at least two more bottles of bourbon in there with my name on it."

"Nice to know all of that sobering up was time well-spent." Peyton murmured, watching him give her a half-wave in recognition as he staggered back into the house. Peyton bit her lip out of worry; the image of his inconsolable face burnt into her memory.

"Don't worry- I'll make sure he doesn't burn the house down." Stefan comforted her, picking up on her unease.

"I can't even tell if that's a joke." She smiled weakly.

"It wasn't." Stefan replied, smiling as she laughed in response.

"It's just, he's so…sad. I know he would never admit it, but…" She trailed off, debating she should tell Stefan what had happened, but quickly deciding against it.

"I know." Stefan agreed sombrely.

"I should go." Peyton said eventually, "It's late."

"OK." Stefan nodded his head, walking her the short distance to her parked car. "And thank you for bringing him back."

"Sure." Peyton smiled, getting into the car. "I'll see you at school on Monday." She said and they waved goodbyes as she pulled out of the driveway and was on the road again. Peyton yawned, causing tears to collect at the edge of her eyes. She thought over the last day; it felt like a lifetime ago that she had spoken to Caroline on her drive back to Mystic Falls. And even longer still that she had seen Nate and he had filled her in on everything that had been going on at Tree Hill. But she was mainly thinking about Damon; still at a loss for what could have changed so much in the last 24 hours. The answer phone message that he had left her only a few hours ago still made no sense to her, as she replayed it in her head:

_"Hey. I went by your apartment before and your car wasn't there. You're probably screening my calls right now- not that I blame you, or anything. Look, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be leaving town tonight…for good. And I… I'm probably not making much sense right now. I just want to let you know, that if you need anything- and I mean anything, Peyton. Or if you're scared of… If you need anything- just ring me and I promise that I will come back, okay? All you have to do is ring. OK, that was all I needed to say to you. So…. Goodbye… I guess."_

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**Author's note: OK, uploading at like 3am in the morning my time, but I really wanted to get this chapters out asap. Hopefully there aren't too many typo's and errors, and if there are, then you know why! I tried to, as much as I could, follow requests for things that people wanted to see in the story, including a Damon/Elena scene (will try to do more in future chapters), introducing someone from Peyton's past (which I was going to do in the last chapter anyway, funnily enough), and more Damon/Peyton. The only thing I couldn't follow was the quicker updates, so I'm hoping that the 2 chapters uploaded make up for that! I _think _that I responded to everyone's reviews via PM a couple of chapters back and if I haven't, then I shall again in a couple of chapters time. Again apologies to everyone reading and were waiting for the next chapter! Hopefully you liked these last two chapters and again, if anyone has requests for what they might want to see in the story then let me know. OK, this author's note, I have just realized, is LONG, but considering it's 2 chapters worth, I'm thinking its not as bad. Right, by now you are all probably thinking shut up, soooo I will leave it as I normally do... Thank you to everyone reading, reviewing and who have stuck by the story despite my terribly irrgular updates (which I am definitely working on...). Thank you. :)**


	11. Took my heart,I think she took my soul

**Author's Warning: This chapter = very long! This wasn't intentional, but I kind of needed it to end a certain way so it would go into the next chapter well, so apologies for that. On the plus side, there is quite a bit of Damon/Peyton goodness. I've been watching more videos on youtube and writing this fic just makes me so disappointed that they can never actually happend (if they did, I would love them soooo much! They would quite possibly be my favourite pairing ever.). Of course they don't, which sucks. Also on a slightly unrelated note, I have kind of stopped shipping Delena. I really loved the potential of them in season 1, but now I just really don't, which basically means my screen name (?) is 1/3 inaccurate... Wayy off the point, but I do not own TVD or OTH (if I did a crossover that basically revolved around Damon/Peyton would be the first thing I would do!) and I do not own Kings of Leon song 'Closer' from which this chapter name is inspired by.**

* * *

Peyton rifled through her pencil-case; taking out what she was looking for, she took aim and, pursing her lips, threw it at her intended target.

Tyler's head suddenly shot up in surprise, "What the hell!" He growled, rubbing his head the point of contact, he looked at the teenagers sitting around him, eyeing them suspiciously before his eyes finally landed an innocent-looking Peyton. That in itself was a dead giveaway. "What did you hit me with?" He asked, still massaging the sore, and now throbbing part of his scalp as Peyton fought back the urge to smirk.

"Oh relax, it was just a sharpener." At Tyler's wide-eyed expression, Peyton added hastily "It was plastic! I'm sure any brain damage would _hardly_ be noticeable."

"OK, nice chat, but I'm just going to turn back around now." Tyler sighed as he began swivel around in his chair.

"No, wait, wait wait!" She strained herself as she reached across to his chair in front of hers and stopped it from moving any further.

Tyler sighed, turning his head back towards her, "I have something to show you." He raised his eyebrows at her questioningly, as she opened her sketchpad that was hidden under her history book; she always brought with her just in case she got bored during lessons. She took out a couple of sheets of paper and handed them to him, watching as he took them cautiously and began to slowly read the pages.

"Save 'The OC' petition…." He said, reading the title of the first page, he frowned in confusion. "Why are you showing me this?" He asked, looking up from the paper.

"Go to the page I marked." Peyton prompted him, waiting patiently as he flipped through the pages, looking to her watch and noting whatever supply teacher that they had today was seriously late. Caroline had explained to her, as she noticed that they were getting a new history teacher every other week, that their old teacher died in some tragic and slightly morbid animal attack not that long before she arrived. But this confused her even more. Last she checked Mystic Falls wasn't the natural habitat for leopards, wolves or bears.

She heard Tyler groan, as he shrank down into his seat. "Please tell me this isn't what I think this is." He looked back at the paper and then back up at Peyton.

"Oh it is." Peyton smiled gleefully.

"How did you even find this?" He asked incredulously.

"Remember that time when we were at the Grill and I asked if I could borrow your laptop?" She asked, as he nodded. "Well, I was on your laptop, not snooping at all," she felt the need to stress, "and I noticed that in your search history." She sighed, as she leaned back in her seat, "trust me; it took me hours of going through page after page of signatures.

Tyler stared on at her in astonishment, slightly impressed, though he would never admit it, at her perseverance. She grabbed the paper from his hands, reading the passage she had highlighted to him out loud. "This is one of the best shows I have ever watched. I'm not ready to see it end and I think you should strongly reconsider its cancellation. Signed: Tyler L. Location: Mystic Falls."

"Unbelievable!" He scoffed, discreetly looking around the classroom at the students, rapt in their own conversations and, thankfully, unaware of what Peyton was reading aloud.

"I know." Peyton remarked, "I mean I didn't think you would stick with it after they killed off Marissa, but clearly I underestimated your loyalty to the show."

"Hey, they did very well recovering from that, considering they just lost one of the core characters." Tyler felt the need to immediately jump to its defence, cursing as Peyton burst out in laughter.

"I still can't get over the fact that you signed it; you _actually _used your real name."

"Well, no-one is regretting that more than me right now…" he grumbled. "So what do I have to do to make sure no-one ever sees this?" He sighed, resigning himself to the idea of being her personal slave for a month or something equally humiliating.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" She exclaimed, feigning insult. One sceptical glance in her direction and she soon dropped the act. "Though, now that you mention it, there was actually something I've been meaning to ask. I'm organizing a charity event."

"Yeah I heard" Tyler said, nodding his head, unsure where this was going.

"Well, firstly, as you know that there is going to be a drive-in theatre. I'm expecting to see you at by the way." She said, holding a finger up at him threateningly.

"I was planning on coming anyway, but sure…" Tyler said.

"Great! But as you also may know I am holding a blind date event on Friday night." Peyton began again.

Tyler groaned, all of a sudden realizing where this conversation was going. "A blind date- you're blackmailing me to go on a stupid blind date?"

"I believe the correct term is volunteer…" Peyton replied as she slipped the paper back in to her bag.

"Can I not just give get my dad to donate a load of money on my behalf?" Tyler sighed, not enjoying the prospect of being paired off with a random girl, not even of his choice.

"Gee, that is a great idea- you can do both." Peyton smiled.

Tyler slowly rolled his eyes, before finally agreeing, "Fine, but as long as you haven't told Caroline about me signing that petition already. If she knows, the entire school will know by lunch."

Peyton grinned; was blackmail supposed to be this enjoyable? "She doesn't know. And you have no idea how hard it's been keeping it a secret by the way."

"Well, I really feel your pain there." He responded sarcastically, silently thinking to himself how the day had started so well.

"Well, at least you can take a lesson from this."

"Never let you anywhere near my laptop ever again?" Tyler guessed; even if that wasn't the lesson she meant, it was definitely the one he would take away from this.

"I was going to say delete your browser history, but sure- that too." Peyton smiled. Whatever Tyler was about to say was cut off by a man walking into the room, standing in front of the class. Tyler raised his eyebrows at her, as if to say 'here we go again' before turning around back in his chair to face the front of the class. The talking died down fairly quickly as the tall, brown-haired man; who must have been in his mid 20's Peyton guessed, stood waiting patiently in the middle of the room. He offered a brief smile, before turning to the whiteboard behind him, introducing himself.

"I am Alaric Saltzman." He said, as he wrote his name in large letters across the board, "And I am your new history teacher." Well, Peyton thought to herself, no more supply teachers meant actually having to do work in lessons.

The next 30 minutes were spent explaining what had been taught so far and what he expected from his students, work-wise. After this initial introductory period, he instructed everyone to open their history books as began to talk about the American civil war. Peyton exhaled deeply, expecting this to be a fairly long and uninteresting 30 minutes, when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned her head to the left where Caroline threw a note across to her desk, landing conveniently right in front of her. She frowned as she picked up the note, unfolding it and reading – _"Hot teacher alert." _Peyton rolled her eyes pointedly, choosing to refrain from commenting. Aside from the fact that he had been their teacher for all of half an hour, her boyfriend also happened to be sitting right in front of her. She turned back to the front of the class, as Alaric began to pace around the class whilst talking. As she looked around the class, she noticed the majority of the female teenagers seemed completely engrossed in whatever he was saying; apparently there was nothing more intriguing than an attractive young man talking about the Battle of Gettysburg.

She slowly shook her head, as another note flew onto her desk. Reluctantly, she picked up the piece of paper, reading _"I mean __seriously__ -hot. HOT. __HOT.__" _Peyton picked up both pieces of paper, throwing them back onto the adjacent desk where Caroline was seated; watching as it instead missed her intended target and fell to the floor. She then heard someone clearing their throat and turned to see Alaric standing in front of them, staring at her. He picked the pieces of paper up from the floor, and she swore under her breath, quiet enough, she assumed that no-one could hear. Instead, he raised a brow towards her, as a slightly amused expression flickered across his face before it quickly disappeared so quickly that she thought she had imagined it- what, did he have super-hearing or something? "Care to share your conversation, Miss…"

"Sawyer." She offered a weak smile as the attention of the entire class turned towards her. A look of recognition crossed his features, before he slowly nodded his head. The only thing she was thinking in that moment was- please don't read it, please don't read it. She cringed inwardly as she watched him glance down at the paper and then look back up at her. Now the only thought she had was- please don't read it out loud, please don't read it out loud. He stared at her for a moment, as a blush began to creep in her cheeks. After what felt like an eternity, he finally said "I would appreciate it if your conversations wait until _after_ my lesson, Peyton."

"Yes… Sir." She answered quietly, sinking in her seat as he turned around and walked back towards the front of the class. Tyler shot her a look of curiosity as he too turned back around and she saw Caroline mouth the words 'I'm sorry.'

Well, one thing was certain; Caroline Forbes was going to suffer a whole world of pain once this lesson was over.

…

As the bell sounded to signal the end of class, Peyton practically bolted out of her seat, picking her books up off the desk and slinging her bag across her shoulder. Immediately Caroline was by her side; a guilty expression on her face.

"I'm sorry!"

"You're dead." Peyton replied, a little too seriously for Caroline's liking.

"You're mad, I totally get that." Caroline said as they began walking out of the class together.

"How very understanding of y-"

"Peyton, can I talk to you for a minute?" Alaric spoke up from the desk, whilst he re-arranged his papers, preparing himself for the second class of the day, as the rest of the teens filed out of the classroom. Seeing her nervous expression, he re-assured her "It won't take long."

Peyton nodded her head hesitantly. She turned to Caroline, hissing "Dead, _dead_ meat!" Caroline's slight smile faltered at Peyton's threatening glare. She watched as the class emptied and walked slowly away from the door towards a desk at the front of the room, leaning against it.

"You moved here a couple of months ago, right?" Alaric said, once he had finally finished sorting out his class notes for the next lesson.

"Uh… yeah." Peyton replied, completely caught off-guard by the question. This was not the lecture about paying attention in class that she was expecting.

"And you're settling in okay?" He asked, leaning against the classroom whiteboard, twisting his wedding ring back and forth on his finger; a habit he had picked up since his wife's disappearance. As if stroking the ring would somehow conjure her up and all the years of searching for her would finally come to an end. Of course that would never happen. Isobel had, by all intents and purposes, vanished and so far no amount of wishful thinking or promising leads had yet to yield any results.

"I'm settling in fine…" Peyton frowned; why she couldn't meet someone in this town and have a 'normal' first encounter with them she had no idea.

"That's good." He replied, slowly nodding his head. At her worried expression, Alaric suddenly lightly smacked his head at his own stupidity, realizing he should have explained himself first. "I'm sorry. I should explain- I know your father- Larry Sawyer."

"You know my dad?"

Alaric nodded his head. "I'm sorry; its just he's never mentioned you."

Alaric chuckled in response, "Don't get me wrong- we're not best friends or anything. I lost my wife a couple of years ago and he helped me come to terms with it. Ever since then, we've tried to keep in touch." He explained; of course he was over-simplifying everything greatly.

After Isobel's disappearance, he began to look into her research on supernatural beings and it was only then that he finally began to take her findings more seriously. The months following the point that the police investigation had gone cold, he began to build sources that had direct dealings with vampires and from there; he hunted and tracked down his first vampire. Killing the thing was easier than he expected; there was no fear, no hesitation. Trying to distinguish between fact and fiction was considerably more difficult- were they afraid of crosses? Did garlic really repel them? Could they only ever go out during the night? Eventually, he learnt the essentials; the different powers they possessed, their affliction to vervain. It was not long before he started to enjoy killing them; the indescribable high that he got from killing vampires became toxic. But this addiction inevitably led to a very close call…

One night he had tracked a vampire to Albany, following him out of a local dive and into an empty car park where he planned on killing him at point blank range. However, somehow the vampire sensed his presence and managed to dodge the attack. During the struggle that followed, Alaric lost his wooden stake and was pinned down by the vampire. In that moment, he knew he was going to die. He would never find Isobel. He would never exact revenge for what had happened to her. He was going to die and all he would get was a four-inch column in the local newspaper describing an unknown man viciously attacked and killed by an animal. But by some miracle he was saved. Larry; who had been tracking the same vampire, killed him there and then.

Since that night; during which they both swapped stories about vampire hunting, Larry became a sort of a mentor. He contacted allies he had grown to trust over the years to see if any could provide any leads in regards to Isobel's disappearance. Some seemed promising at the time, though they all eventually led to dead ends. Regardless to say, Alaric trusted Larry probably more than anyone else he knew.

However, he knew Larry's daughter didn't know anything about his father's hunting background, hence the simplification of the story. "When I told your father I was going to be teaching here, he told me that you live here now."

"Have you spoken to him recently? I haven't been able to get in contact with him for a while now." Peyton asked, trying to disguise her concern. The last time she had spoken to him was when he had left her a voicemail telling her that she had to go back to Tree Hill to sign over the papers to the estate agents. Her fear was irrational; she knew that. But that didn't seem to stop her heart beating a little faster every time the phone would ring; telling her that there had been an 'accident'. Before her worry could take over, Alaric interrupted her thoughts.

"Uh… Not for a couple of weeks- I met up with him just before I moved here. He docked port not far from where I was, so I went to see him. Actually that reminds me…" He said, as he opened the top desk drawer. He reached inside and pulled out a large rectangular object wrapped in red tissue paper. He smiled, handing it over to her as she eyed it cautiously, turning it over in his hands. "Relax, I'm sure that whatever it is, it's not going to kill you!" Alaric laughed as he watched her hold it as if it were about to explode in her hands.

Peyton smiled and began to tear the paper off, revealing a wooden case. She opened it, revealing an oil painting set. "He said it's an early Christmas present… or a _really_ late birthday present. I'm not quite sure which."

"Thank you."

"No problem." Alaric said, waving his hand as if it was nothing.

"No, seriously… thank you. I haven't seen him in… it just means a lot." Peyton whispered, as she found the note inside addressed to her that she recognized was in her dad's handwriting. She put it in her bag, deciding to read it later.

"Sure." Alaric replied as the school bell sounded again telling them it was time for the second lesson of the day. "You should get going. I don't want you to be late for your next class."

"Yeah." Peyton agreed with him, as she began to walk out of class. As she reached the door, she turned around "I'm doing a charity event and there's this drive-in theatre tonight- you can buy pizzas and popcorn and drinks. You pay on entry and there's just a load of films showing."

Alaric considered, "I'll try and make it." He said, as Peyton got a flier out of her bag and handed it over to him.

"OK. I should get to my next lesson."

Alaric nodded his head as she left the room and a class of younger students rushed in. Outside she was greeted by Caroline, who was standing waiting for her, a cupcake in her hand, as a peace offering.

"Really? Baked goods- that's all you think it takes?" Peyton raised an eyebrow at her friend, wondering how long she should let her sweat it out before letting her know that she was off the hook.

"How angry are you?"

"Well, on a scale of one to ten…" Peyton began as she glanced over to her clearly terrified friend as they began to walk to the library. Suddenly feeling guilty, Peyton decided to come clean. "Its fine- he didn't want to talk about that. He and my dad are friends." She explained.

"Oooh, they know each other. Maybe you can set us up then." Caroline replied, her mood suddenly uplifted and more Caroline-like.

"Unbelievable!" Peyton remarked, thinking maybe letting Caroline feel guilty for a little longer wouldn't have been such a bad thing after all.

"Oh come on- what's the big deal?"

"What- besides the fact that you have a boyfriend and he is our _teacher_."

"Oh, right… Matt." Caroline replied, as they entered the library and chose an empty table to sit down at. "Oh, I know! Maybe we could-"Caroline began excitedly, as a thought popped into her mind.

"Please let whatever leaves your mouth right now, not include the word 'threesome'."

"No! God, get your mind out the gutter." Caroline said, as Peyton stopped herself from mentioning the fact that this conversation had started because of Caroline.

"Anyway, as I was saying-" Caroline began before Peyton cut her off.

"You mind telling me your master plan later- knowing our luck _I'm_ probably going to get told off again for _you _talking."

"Spoil sport." Her blonde friend grumbled, as she opened her much less interesting maths text book.

Peyton smiled at how Caroline managed to change moods so quickly, as she got out the letter in her bag that was addressed to her from her dad and began to read it.

…..

Damon swirled the bourbon around in his glass before downing it in one large gulp, as the bartender shook his head in resignation whilst he was drying shot glasses. He had long since given up on trying to convince Damon to go home and had left the bottle of alcohol and glass with him, instead choosing to tend to more appreciative and less temperamental customers.

"Still drowning your sorrows?"

Damon couldn't stop the involuntary quirk of his lips, as he smiled genuinely for the first time that day. "Nope- got no sorrows that need to be drowned." He explained to her, as Peyton sat down in the seat next to him.

"Is that right?"

"Sorrowless Damon- it's what they call me."

"Oh _that's_ what they call you?" Peyton smirked, as Damon shook his head at her almost-insult. "Hi." She smiled.

"Hey." He exhaled.

Peyton looked down at the barely touched sandwich that was set down in front of him. "Is this yours?" His eyes looked to where she was pointing. As if reading her mind, he slid the plate across to her. He watched as she happily took the sandwich off the plate and bit into it as he began to pour himself another drink. He could feel her eyes burning a hole in him, as she watched him silently. "What?"

"I didn't say anything."

"Well, you're practically dying to say something. Spill it."

"Well, I'm just thinking that eventually you're going to have to stop drinking and actually be sober." Peyton shrugged, knowing that anything that sounded vaguely sensible would just go in one ear and out the other as far as Damon was concerned.

"Now, there's a terrifying thought." He commented, not entirely sure why he pushed the glass aside- at least for the time being anyway.

"I'm just saying your alcohol consumption hasn't exactly been healthy lately." She swallowed, putting the sandwich back down, taking off the bread and picking out the watercress. _Who puts watercress in a sandwich?_

"My alcohol consumption, huh?" He raised his eyebrows, amused by her choice of words.

"It's just a thought." She shrugged, as she resumed her lunch.

"I don't see what your issue is with it." He replied frankly.

"Of course you don't." She sighed.

"So you think about my alcohol consumption a lot?" Damon asked.

Peyton rolled her eyes; she knew he wasn't going to take anything she said seriously and now she was wondering why she even bothered. "Oh yeah, it's all I think about before I go to bed at night." She replied flatly; between the two of them, they seemed to have the banter perfected down to a t.

"Really?" Damon laughed, "Why, Ms. Sawyer, all of this dirty talk is getting me flustered."

Peyton opened her mouth about to say something, before replaying their conversation in her head, thinking that maybe she had missed something. Finally she frowned, completely confused. "What are you talking about?"

Damon feigned embarrassment as he replied, "Oh, were you speaking literally just then. See, I thought we were talking in metaphors and 'alcohol consumption' was some obscene euphemism that they use back where you're from."

"Oh my god!" She cried; scrunching her eyes together in disgust as she suddenly understood what he meant.

"Wow, that conversation just got a whole lot less entertaining and sexually suggestive." He remarked in a disappointed tone.

"You are disgusting!" She said, punching him forcefully in the arm.

"Hey, I'm not the one that goes to bed at night, thinking about your 'alcohol consumption'." He laughed, using air quotations.

"What kind of a euphemism is 'alcohol consumption'?" She exclaimed.

"You punch _really_ hard!" He said, ignoring her as he rubbed his sore arm.

"Are you pouting?" She asked in shock.

"Pain normally doesn't last this long for me!" He replied defensively.

"Aww, baby got a booboo." She replied in a baby voice that irritated her whenever woman would talk to children in the same patronizing tone.

"Is it bad how hot I found it when you just called me baby?" He asked honestly, aware that he was more than likely going to get another punch in the arm.

He was pleasantly surprised when she instead smiled widely at him, "Is there anything you don't find hot?"

He considered the question thoughtfully, finally answering. "Sure I do!"

"Really…"

"Yeah- you to hear them?"

Peyton turned around in her chair so she was facing him, "Go ahead."

"OK." He said, bracing himself, as he began to list on his hands "I _hate _when a girl expects a relationship after you hook up a couple of times."

"Right, how dare she want a committed, monogamous relationship from you!" Peyton shook her head in mock outrage.

"Hey, she wants a committed relationship; she's clearly knocking at the wrong door."

"I say if she wants any kind of healthy, non self-destructive relationship that isn't doomed from the start, then she is knocking at the wrong door." Peyton countered.

Damon rolled his eyes at her, as he continued down his list, "Someone who is _completely _full off themselves; like undeservedly so."

Peyton slowly shook her head, "Three words for you, Salvatore- pot…" she said, holding out one hand, before holding out the other and joining the two of them together. "…meet kettle."

"Still hate it when you call me Salvatore."

"Why are you assuming that knowledge is going to make me stop calling you it?"

"You're not a very nice person…"

"Well then, I guess we're made for each other!" She replied offhandedly.

"I guess so…" He smiled, catching her completely off-guard. She opened her mouth to offer some sarcastic reply, but realized that she couldn't come up with one. Suddenly noting the awkwardness of the moment, Damon cleared his throat and continued on with his list, "A girl that talks too much- _major _turn-off."

It seemed that was enough for them to revert back to the light-hearted atmosphere that they seemed comfortable in, as Peyton deadpanned in response. "Right, why talk when you can be making out instead."

"Now those are words to live by."

"You really have no shame in anything you say, do you?" Peyton frowned, though she could honestly say nothing really surprised her when it came to Damon anymore.

"You said it, I'm just agreeing with you." He reasoned aloud.

He frowned when he saw her begin to look into her bag, "You looking in there for something harder to hit me with."

"Does that mean I have your permission?"

He scoffed. "Like you need my permission." He reached his hand for the glass he had pushed away, but stopped himself before his hand touched the glass. For the first time in a week, he didn't feel the need to drink and it was surprisingly… refreshing.

Peyton took out fliers, calling to the bartender who was walking past the pair of them at the time. "Hi, I spoke to Matt about putting up some fliers."

"Oh, yeah- we also got some ticket sales for the drive-in tonight as well." The young woman said; taking the fliers from her and telling Peyton she would be right back.

"What was that about?"

"I'm doing this thing for Breast Cancer Research." She answered vaguely.

"Why?" He asked as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

"Well, sometimes- and I know this is a completely foreign concept to you- but sometimes, people actually like giving to other people."

"Wow; that is a completely foreign concept. I hate giving. No, I am all about the taking."

Before she could say anything the bartender returned with a container of money and spare tickets.

"Thank you." She said, wiping her hands on her jeans before glancing down at her watch. "I have to go."

"So soon?" He asked, instantly scolding himself once the words had left his mouth; _it was pathetic how desperate that sounded, _he thought to himself.

Apparently not noticing, Peyton replied "Yup- I have to get back to school. Huh, that's another foreign concept to you- work. You should try it sometime."

"Education is over-rated." Damon responded, quickly dismissing her suggestion.

Peyton rolled her eyes in response, "Of course you'd think that." She looked down at the other half of the sandwich, "Can I…"

"Help yourself." He replied, as she put the sandwich on a folded napkin.

"Bye Damon." She said, walking away.

He waved his hand in goodbye; sighing deeply as he looked back at the drink in front of him. He furrowed his brows as he saw one of the fliers that must have fallen out of Peyton's bag and picked it up, flicking his eyes over it before pouring himself another drink.

….

Peyton yawned, as she began to rub her eyes. She had been at the entrance of the shopping complex car park, selling tickets and letting people in for the last hour with Caroline. Eventually 8pm rolled around and the car-park was packed, much to Peyton's relief. Once she insisted that she was fine with Caroline sitting with Matt in his car; he was after all, her boyfriend, she set the electronic barrier to close, not allowing anymore people to pass through and walked over to where her car was parked.

As she reached her car, she noticed a tall figure leaning against the hood of the bonnet, breathing out a shaky sigh of relief as she got closer to him. "Twice in one day- aren't I the lucky one?"

"You know just once, it would be nice if you actually looked happy to see me." He said, turning around to face her.

"I'll try and remember that. What are you doing here?"

"Would you believe that I've never watched Nightmare on Elm Street?" He asked, fully aware that he hadn't answered her question at all; and intentionally so.

Peyton walked over to the driver's side of the door and got in, when he remained stationary, hesitant about what to do; she called out "Well, are you coming in or not?"

He grinned as walked around to the passenger seat and walked in. "$50." She demanded, holding her hand out as soon as he had sat down in the car.

"What?"

"Well, you obviously didn't pay for getting in, so… $50."

"$50 for a couple of movies and a soda is extortion!"

"I'm not a cheap date." She shrugged her shoulders non-sympathetically as he begrudgingly reached into his pocket and handed her the money. She suppressed the urge to smile as she then told him, "Oh and Nightmare on Elm Street isn't going to come on until 10."

"Then what's showing now?" He asked as looked in front of him at the title credits that began to roll across the screen. "Oh god…" He groaned, doing nothing to hide his displeasure.

She couldn't help but laugh at his reaction, "You're not a fan of Harry met Sally?" She asked rhetorically.

"I can't even _begin_ to fathom how you can ask me that with a straight face." He replied seriously as he shook his head.

"You know they're selling popcorn on the other side of the car park."

"You need to work on your subtlety." He said as he opened the door, willing to do anything to make this film end quicker.

"Don't be afraid to tip- money's going to a good cause." He heard her shout after him as he went off to collect the snacks as requested.

She widened her eyes in awe, as he returned a couple of minutes later, his hands full, with a large bag of popcorn, two drinks, nachos and ice-cream. She happily took the popcorn from him, as he rested everything else her had brought on his laps. Not two minutes had passed before he inevitably broke the silence, already growing bored of the film. On a list of five things he hated more than anything else in the world, romantic comedies, (the phrase itself was enough to make anyone gag), was number three.

"So why the sudden urge to give?" He turned to her.

Peyton shrugged her shoulders. Visiting Tree Hill and her mom's grave just made her think about Ellie and how the concert she had done in Tree Hill not too long ago had made her feel better- like she was making a difference somehow. It was utterly selfish, but she wanted; she _needed_ that feeling again. She didn't mean for it to happen; but spending the last week organizing the two fundraisers with Caroline, had somehow quashed the feelings of homesickness that she had been suffering from.

"What about you? Why are you here?"

"I had nothing better to do." He replied half-heartedly.

"Damon Salvatore without a date- now there's a shocker." She commentated, taking a handful of popcorn and throwing a couple in her mouth.

"I haven't been dating for a while now."

"Of course you haven't…" Peyton replied; as Damon noted a mildly amused expression appear on her face.

"What?" He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"It's nothing. Forget it." She lied, wishing she hadn't said anything now. She sighed, taking his silence as a sign of clearly not wanting to drop the subject. "It's just I went to your house a couple of days ago and there were two half-naked sorority girls there that I'm pretty sure weren't there for Stefan's benefit." She had purposely missed out the part of the explanation as to the reason behind her going was to see him.

"Oh…" He mouthed, unsure what to say.

"It was actually quite sweet- Stefan tried to cover for you. That boy is a _terrible _liar!" She smiled; thinking back to how Stefan hemmed and hawed as he tried to get out a reasonable explanation as to who the two girls were. At Damon's prolonged silence, she tilted her head in his direction, shocked by what she saw. "If I didn't know any better Damon, I would say you were nervous."

"Those girls were…" He finally got out before he too realized how hard it was to come up with a convincing lie to explain them away.

"You really do not have to do this." Peyton decided to save him the hassle of having to apologize about his indiscretions. "I'm not your girlfriend. Whatever, or whoever, you do is none of my business."

"So you really don't care?" He raised a brow, still unconvinced.

"As difficult as it is for me to accept your hook-ups with random girls, I will somehow struggle through the pain." She said drily.

"Good, because what I hate more than a girl that expects a relationship after a couple of hook-ups is one who expects a relationship after absolutely no hook-ups."

"That sounds horrible." She decided to agree with him.

"Exactly- it's like being in a relationship with absolutely none of the benefits." He said, all the while trying to ignore the unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach at the thought that she didn't seem phased in the slightest, let alone jealous, at the prospect of him with another girl.

Ignoring his uneasiness, he decided to follow Peyton's lead and continued to watch the movie. There was an old couple on the screen, talking directly into the camera:

_I was sitting with my friend Arthur Kornblum, in a restaurant, it was a Horn and Hardart cafeteria. And this beautiful girl walked in and I turned to Arthur and I said Arthur, you see that girl? I'm going to marry her. And two weeks later we were married. And it's over fifty years later and we are still married._

"Oh come on!" He scoffed in disbelief, unable to contain himself.

"I can't wait to hear this."

"You really believe that kind of thing happens? That people just meet; fall in love and bam two weeks later they're married." He asked, his face the perfect picture of cynicism. Before she could respond with her opinion, he spoke up again, "Because life does not work that way. A guy and girl will meet, and one of them will fall in love, but that's always as far as it goes."

_Well, that had to be the one of the stupidest things she had ever heard Damon come out with- and that was saying something. _"You genuinely believe that all love is one-sided?"

His forehead crinkled in thought, before he finally declared, "Love is never equal- in a relationship, I _guarantee_ that there is always one person that is more in love, more enamoured, than the other. And the second person just… settles." He shrugged as he said the last word.

"You know what I think? That this is just you projecting given your recent experiences with love." She replied; that was the best way she could put it without practically spelling out the topic she had been careful to avoid during her encounters with him.

He apparently had no such problem broaching the subject as he let out a hollow laugh "If by recent experiences, you mean the cold two-faced bitch, known as Katherine, then no- this has nothing to do with it." At Peyton less than convinced stare, Damon relented, "OK, it might have something to do with her- that whole experience has made me realize what's been staring me in the face all this time."

"'That whole experience' happened all of one week ago and you already have an unbiased perspective on it?" She responded, thinking this new, 'insightful' Damon was just a cover smoke-screen for other emotions he didn't want to show he was still feeling. Peyton sighed when he didn't respond, deciding to instead test out his new hypothesis on love. "OK, so you're saying that in every relationship, there's always one person that loves the other more?"

"Name a couple and I'll show you." He said confidently.

"OK… Stefan and Elena."

"Stefan without a doubt loves her more." He answered without a moment's hesitation. "Though to be fair, that was a really easy question. Stefan, in any relationship, will _always_ love the other person more than they love him. My little brother is definitely a giver."

"Careful Damon, that almost sounds like a compliment." She warned him, noting that was probably the first time that Damon had not only not insulted his brother, but also managed to say something nice about him.

"How? I hate giving- it's stupid and unnecessary." He said, meaning any moment of implied affection on his part was only short-lived.

"He says, whilst he's at a charity fundraiser."

He dismissed coolly, "I like the company." It wasn't a line, deliberately said to impress her, which made her smile; Damon had to be the only person she knew who was capable of saying something so annoyingly selfish to something surprisingly sweet, all the while still being completely honest. As much as he liked to play up to the villain role, he was a dichotomy.

"And that, for the record," He added as an afterthought, "was a compliment."

"I'll try not to get used to it."

"Good call." Damon held out the tray of tortillas towards her, "Have the nachos- the cheese is going to get cold." He said as Peyton handed over the bag of popcorn to him as she took the nachos.

"Before I forget…" Damon said, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone, passing it over to her.

"My phone! I thought I lost it." She said, only remembering now how Damon had taken it from him when they were talking outside her apartment and she must have forget getting it back from him.

"Yeah, you've got a lot of missed calls- it was ringing off the hook." He told her, glad to finally return it to her. "Seriously, who rings you that much?"

"They are called friends. You should try making some- see what they feel like."

"See what they feel like?" He laughed, "In that case, will you be my friend sweetheart?" He finished, smirking at her.

Well, she couldn't really say anything there; she had practically asked for that one. "Besides," He continued, "I have friends."

"You have friends?" She repeated sceptically.

"Yes!"

"Name one."

He tapped his fingers on the gear stick as he thought and when his mind came up blank under the category of 'friends' he decided to instead say the first name that came to mind. "Liz."

"Liz?" She mimicked, thoroughly unimpressed.

"Yeah, blondie's mom."

"Liz is your friend?" At his curt nod, Peyton asked, "OK then- when's her birthday?"

She grinned when his face suddenly fell, at a loss at what to say. "That proves nothing- just because I don't know her birthday doesn't mean we aren't friends."

"Have you ever considered the reason you don't have any friends," Peyton replied, completely ignoring him, "is because you talk over films when people want to watch them."

"OK, OK." He held his hands up in surrender. "I can take a hint." She smiled in appreciation as they fell into a comfortable silence.

…

Number two. On a list of his five most hated things ever; romantic comedies had just been upgraded to number two:

_Harry: I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts... _

"Wow, this must be killing you!" Peyton smirked as she glanced over to Damon who was biting his tongue to stop from commenting.

He decided that since she had spoken first, he then had permission to respond, "This…" He gestured to screen on which the film was playing, "is ridiculous! All these grand speeches on why they love the other person- name one time that this happens in real life." He challenged her.

"OK, relationship guru. Calm down!" She laughed, amused at his sudden outburst.

"This right here," He pointed to the now watery-eyed image of Meg Ryan, "this is where girls get all their idealized notions of romance; Billy Crystal movies and Jane Austen novels."

"Well, you've only got to sit through another five minutes before Nightmare on Elm Street is on." She reassured him, positive that there were going to be some irritated viewers that had to sit through that rant.

"Well, those five minutes can't come around fast enough." He sighed, as he watched- of course, the two of them reunite. Again.

Deciding she wasn't that invested in watching the end of the movie; it was entirely predictable how it would finish anyway, she turned to him and asked, "You've seriously never watched Nightmare on Elm Street?"

"No, I find horror films pointless- they don't scare me and it bothers me that they never get the blood right." He shrugged, earning him a worried glance from Peyton. "Why? You want me to hold your hand through the scary bits?"

"Yeah- that's what I want, Damon." She replied flatly as he grinned at her.

"So you spoke to that old friend of yours?" Damon asked, expanding when she looked at him in confusion, "The one from Tree Hill."

Peyton's green eyes bulged in surprise, "I'm impressed. You seemed so drunk that night- I'm shocked you remember anything."

"Aw, come on- I was not that bad."

"Can you count how many times you passed out on me? I mean you could barely string a sentence together." She remarked, unable to pass up the opportunity to finish, "Well, that's nothing new, but still…"

"Do the constant insults never get boring?"

"Not when it's you I'm aiming them at." She smiled sweetly at him; which was a lot more unsettling than any threatening glare or menacing scowl she usually sent his way.

"I feel so…special." He remarked, just as the credits for the next film appeared on the screen. _Thank god!_

The next hour and a half was spent, more or less, in complete silence; much to Peyton's surprise.

"So?" She looked at him expectantly once the film had finished.

"Not terrible, I guess." He responded half-heartedly.

"You should be grateful Caroline didn't get her way- otherwise it would have been 'When Harry met Sally' followed by 'How to lose a guy in 10 days'."

"That would have been a lot scarier than this movie."

She laughed as she watched people ready themselves to leave. "I've got to go help close up and get all the takings from the food court. You need a lift back?"

He considered taking her up on her offer, but eventually declined. He had to get used to the unpleasant quiet that was waiting for him at home sooner or later. She nodded her head as they both got out of the car to go their separate ways, when Peyton turned to him, "You know, when you're not being a complete jackass, spending time with you isn't entirely unbearable."

He smiled, choosing to read between the lines, "I had a good time too." Peyton rolled her eyes; of course he would manage to somehow extract something nice out of what she had just said.

He watched her walk off in the general direction where he had gone to get the popcorn and decided that he would find Stefan to hitch a ride with, who was bound to be here cuddling and doing other couple-like and therefore vomit-inducing, things with Elena.

…..

"What do you mean 'can't rig it'?"

"I'm not going to fix the blind dates just so you can go on a date with your boyfriend." She couldn't even believe she was having this conversation.

"But why not? What's the fun in being in charge of this if you can't abuse the power." Caroline whined, tugging childishly on Peyton's arm.

"It's nice to know that you're taking the moral high ground."

"The moral high ground is for losers and people who don't care what creeps they might have to spend the entire night with." Caroline countered, "I don't see the big deal!"

"The big deal is if Tyler finds out that I rigged this for you and not him, he will _kill _me; it was hard enough convincing him to take part in the first place."

A bemused Peyton watched as Caroline reluctantly admit defeat, crossing her shoulders and huffing, "Fine. But if I end up with some weird freak, or Matt ends up with a hot, slutty girl- Tyler won't be the one that you need to worry about."

"I'll keep that in mind. Come on-we should sit down. Elena's aunt said she would announce the dates and she's going up at 8.00." Peyton replied, as she gestured where Tyler, Stefan, Elena and Matt were sat at a booth. But before the could reach the table, Peyton found herself stumbling to a halt as suddenly Damon appeared in front of her, effectively blocking their path.

"Hi."

"You look good." He said, in greeting. Though she was only wearing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and white sweatshirt, he was stunned at how she even managed to make 'casual' look sexy.

"Thanks." She smiled, "Got to look good for my date." At his questioning frown, she explained "the charity blind dates are tonight."

"Blind date, huh?"

"There aren't any more places, so you couldn't sign up even if you wanted to." Caroline jumped in from where she stood beside Peyton.

"Caroline…" He grimaced; his hopes of ignoring the fact that she was standing there quickly vanished. "How are you?"

"Worse for seeing you." Caroline replied, turning to Peyton she said "I'm going to wait for you over there." Shooting Damon another cold look, she walked over to where the rest of their friends were sat talking.

"I think she's warming to me." Damon remarked, causing Peyton to laugh. "So how does this blind date thing work anyway?"

"Well, everyone puts in $20 to take part and then Elena's aunt Jenna is going to pick people out of hat to go out with each other. The date lasts three hours; the first half, the guy gets to choose where they go, what they do and the second half, is everything the girl wants to do.

"So basically, its three hours of torture?" Damon deduced.

"Three hours of torture where all proceeds go to Breast Cancer Research."

"Huh…" Damon considered, before Peyton interrupted his thoughts.

"But Caroline wasn't lying when she said there were no more places- it's a full house." She looked over to the stage, then back at Damon, "I'm going to sit down; it's going to be starting pretty soon." She explained; saying goodbye and Peyton walked towards the group of teens, squeezing in to sit next to a less than enthusiastic Tyler.

…

"OK, next we have… Tyler Lockwood and…" Jenna said from the stage, as Tyler suddenly perked up from his seat, "… Jack White?" She frowned as she called the first non male-female pairing of the night.

_Well, _Peyton thought to herself, _I clearly didn't think this one through._ Matt guffawed from his seat, as Elena and Caroline giggled amongst themselves. Peyton attempted to hide her smile behind her glass of coke, certain that if looks could kill, Tyler would certainly have killed her by now.

"Can we not go again?" Tyler shouted from his seat.

"Sorry- rules are first pick stands." Jenna replied, also unable to stop herself from laughing at the entire situation.

"A dude? I mean really, Peyton- a dude?"

"Don't look at me, I didn't pick them." Peyton held her hands up, hoping this one technicality might make him a little less pissed off at her than he was right now.

"No, you just made enter this stupid thing in the first place!"

Sensing the tension, Jenna decided to interrupt their argument. "Moving swiftly on, we have…" Jenna unfolded a piece of paper, "ah, my beautiful niece Elena…." She smiled, as she picked out another paper from the hat and opened it up, "and Matt Donovan."

Peyton watched Elena and Matt laugh, looking pleased with their date and then noted Caroline's crestfallen expression and suddenly felt very guilty; wishing that she had just rigged the votes after all. She offered her a re-assuring smile, calling across to the table, "I'm sure you'll get that hot boy in our art class."

"And now," Jenna said, reaching into the hat and pulling two names at a time. "We have the event organizer, Peyton Sawyer and…" Peyton looked up apprehensively, anxious to hear the next name called. "… Stefan Salvatore." Peyton breathed out a sigh of relief at the name-call, looking over to Stefan who looked equally happy.

Now, there was just one more hurdle to cross. As long as Caroline didn't end up with someone completely terrible, she might just manage to make it through tonight alive. A couple more names were called, as Caroline's, and Peyton's, nerves increased.

"The next date goes to the lovely Caroline Forbes…" Jenna announced as she read the next sheet of paper. "…and Damon Salvatore." Peyton's jaw fell to the floor

Caroline's face contorted in confusion and disgust. "I'm sorry. What?"

* * *

**Authors Note: So, what did you think? Hopefully there aren't too many errors, as I did proof-read it, (but I was also watching the tennis French Open final at the time, so I was probably a little distracted!). As always, thank you to reviewers, but also really anyone who reads and enjoys reading my story and I hope you like where the story is going. Any questions, queries, comments, requests are always welcomed and greatly appreciated. I guess I'll see you in the next update...**


	12. It's as if you've come along too soon

**Authors Note: Wow, I can't believe how long its been since I put my last chapter up on here. I can only apologize to everyone. ****I had about half of it written for the longest time and just didnt know where to go from there. I _want_ to say I hope its worth the wait, but nothing can be worth that long of a wait, so all I can say is I hope you enjoy and hope you all haven't lost complete interest in the story! I really am so sorry it's taken so long for this to come up and I'm going to try a new thing where I make sure I write AT LEAST 1 page a day**** and hopefully none of my updates should take anywhere near as long as that! OK, going to stop talking so you can read... (Btw, the title of this chapter is after the awesome Air Traffic song 'Shooting Star')**

* * *

He waited for her to get within hearing distance before informing her, "In my defence, your name was supposed to be called _after _Caroline's." She sat down to occupy the seat next to him.

"Well, whatever your reasoning is, Caroline's pissed." Peyton replied. She had only managed to escape from her friend's endless, (and a little too specific for Peyton's liking), threats directed towards her, when Stefan interrupted in an attempt to calm her down.

"She's not the only one."

"I thought charity wasn't your thing."

"Like I said, your name was called earlier than expected." He half-answered her implied question.

"Fixing it so we have two dates in just this week; so romantic… and un Damon-like." She said, wondering why he was so intent on spending so much time with her lately; it just wasn't his MO. Not that she minded spending time with him; in fact, (and she would only ever admit this to herself), she quite enjoyed it. And that fact alone posed a problem to her. Enjoying his company, being physically attracted to him and feeling like he understood her in a way she didn't even understand herself was not what she wanted or needed. She wasn't ready to be in any sort of relationship and she especially knew that getting involved with Damon would be more complicated than most; they were too alike. It was different to her likeness to Lucas. With Lucas, she shared similar tastes and beliefs; he always seemed to know when she was in a bad mood and what to say to her to make her feel better. But with Damon, it felt like he knew what she was feeling before even she fully understood… because he had felt it too. Every experience; every pain; every heartache she had been through, he understood it…because he had been there too. And acknowledging that fact; that someone she didn't know a few months was capable of understanding her in a way nobody else ever would scared the hell out of her. It didn't help that her fears were compounded by the idea that that person felt like a complete stranger at times; just when she felt like she knew him, he would do or say something to completely throw her off and change her opinion of him all over again.

And then there were times when he would reply with a completely unsurprising, typical of him response and her anxieties would completely disappear. "Well, I can tell you the things that I had in mind for tonight definitely were _not_ un Damon-like." He smirked in a way that she shouldn't be finding nearly as attractive as she did.

"And he's back…"

"He never left. It's a shame you're not going on a date with him tonight."

"Guess I'll have to settle for his brother instead."

"Yeah, you don't seem too upset about that."

"I must like him more than I like you." She shrugged casually.

"They always do." came the mutter that escaped from his lips, sounding sourer than he intended it to. Peyton either chose not to respond, or simply didn't hear him as she remained silent, so he added "And I get Malibu Barbie. I swear Jenna fixed it this way just to annoy me."

Peyton sighed, shaking her head as if to offer mock sympathy. "You just _cannot_ bribe the help these days."

"Tell me about it…" Damon sighed whilst thinking to himself how it would have helped if she wasn't wearing the damn vervain bracelet that Elena gave to her. The whole town was full of do-gooders; it was sickening.

Peyton waved goodbye as Elena and Matt passed them, presumably to begin their date. Another reason, Peyton was sure, that Caroline was so angry with her; not only did she set her up on a date with her ex, but she also inadvertently set her boyfriend up on a date with his ex. To add to that, the fact that Tyler was going out with someone noticeably _not _of the opposite sex, Peyton was only 50% positive that she would make it through this night alive.

The pair turned their heads simultaneously as Stefan and Caroline made their way across the room to them; Caroline's expression less animated and more sullen than usual, shooting the two of them evil glares.

"You ready to go?" Stefan asked, directing his question at Peyton. Peyton nodded and got up to leave, muttering back to Damon "Can you _please _do yourself a favour and not call her Malibu Barbie. She's out for blood tonight."

"I'm so scared." He replied flatly.

…..

"So, where to?" Stefan asked as he followed Peyton to her car, zipping his jacket up as he noticed the lingering storm clouds looming above them.

"Well, I seem to recall you owing me dinner for a certain Elena related problem that worked itself out." Peyton said, already making a mental list of the most expensive restaurants in Mystic Falls.

"Ah..." Stefan let out a long groan, "I'm going to regret promising you that one, aren't I?"

At that moment, Peyton's ringtone sounded from inside her bag, looking down at the caller ID, she threw Stefan her car keys so he could wait inside the car, "Give me a second."

"Hey."

"Hey Nate, what's up?"

"Nothing much- basketball game got cancelled and Hales is out with Brooke, so I figured I would ring you, see what you're up to tonight." Nathan yawned, stretching out on the sofa.

"God Nate, you really know how to make a girl feel special, you know that?"

"What are you talking bout?"

"Can't play basketball, can't hang out with Haley, got nothing better to do, so you call me. It's like we're dating all over again."

"When you put it like that, you make it sound like I was this terrible boyfriend." He remarked. At her deliberate silence, he huffed "I wasn't that bad."

"With Haley. With Haley, you are the _perfect_ boyfriend. With me- not so much. Anyway, as much as I would love to rehash the past with you, I'm just about to go to dinner with a friend." Peyton explained, not wanting to keep Stefan waiting.

"Guy friend or girl friend?" Nathan frowned; aware that Peyton was only vague or non-specific when she was hiding something.

"Just a _friend_, Nathan." Peyton sensed where he was going with this.

"So guy friend then." Nathan smirked, completely oblivious as to whether Peyton had been seeing anyone since she had arrived in the quirkily named town of 'Mystic Falls' (and he though 'Tree Hill' was bad!). Peyton had mentioned how she was close friends with a girl named Caroline, but whenever he had asked about whether she had been dating, she always seemed to skilfully avoid the subject. Nathan knew that something had happened between her and Lucas before she left, but he didn't want to push her on the subject. And he couldn't exactly ask his brother about it without arousing suspicion as to why he would be so interested. Between Lucas, Peyton and Brooke, there were so many sore topics of conversation that he felt himself constantly having to watch his words, always careful of what he might reveal to the wrong person or who he might upset.

"It's not like that."

"Right… Just call me back when you get back from your date." He replied, about to put down the phone when he heard her call out to him.

"You may have been the _worst_ boyfriend, but you're the best friend I could ever ask for, you know that?"

Nathan smiled, "Love you too, Sawyer." It was rare, but every now and then Nathan would just know the perfect thing to say at the exact time that she needed to hear it. They had known each other since they were nine years old and though it wasn't the same kind of friendship she had with Lucas or Brooke, he knew when to give her space and when to avoid talking about things he knew she wasn't comfortable discussing. She put it down to years of practice. She didn't really care how he knew, she was just glad that she had a small part of Tree Hill with her even though she was miles away.

She put down the phone before walking round the car to the drivers side. "Sorry about that." She looked across to Stefan once she had got herself seated, as he noted her smiling from ear to ear, looking noticeable happier than just a few minutes ago.

"No problem. So, are you hungry?"

"Starving. Like three course, five star hungry." Peyton grinned at Stefan's crestfallen expression; though she had already decided to take them to a reasonably priced restaurant. Of course if it was Damon, she would go to the most expensive restaurant she could think of, and order the most expensive things on the menu. That thought brought her back to the reality of Caroline and Damon currently on their date, and as she drove downtown she wondered which of the two would snap first. Her money was definitely on Caroline.

….

"You know, you could at least ask me if I wanted something to eat!"

"I got you a drink!" Damon exclaimed back, thinking how she should consider herself lucky that he was feeling so generous tonight.

"Wow… You splashed out all of three dollars on me! How will I ever repay you (!)?" She replied in a sarcastic tone, causing both of them to stare at the other in shock, as they both separately shared the exact same thought- that sounded a lot like Peyton. Clearly she was starting to rub off on Caroline.

"And fyi" Caroline dragged the bar stool further away from Damon before sitting down, "bourbon" she said, holding up the glass he had ordered for her "is not my drink. I hate it. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not Peyton."

"Oh, I noticed…" Damon murmured, doing nothing to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"You might order it for her all the time, but it genuinely makes me gag." She continued as if she hadn't just been interrupted. "See, I prefer a simple orange juice, maybe a beer- but definitely not-"

"Oh my god!" Damon suddenly shouted, causing several people to turn their heads and stare. "Do you ever shut up!" He exclaimed as any final remnants of patience flew well and truly out the window. He called the waiter over "Give princess here whatever she wants."

Caroline opened her mouth to protest when she suddenly thought of a much more entertaining way to piss Damon off. "Fine." She smiled wickedly, reaching for the menu, "I will have a bottle of your most expensive wine on ice and an orange juice for right now." She looked at Damon and grinned before opening the menu, "And I will also have…" She then proceeded to name every single one of the starters on the menu and began naming each of the meals on the main course.

The waiter interrupted her, "So you want every one of the mains, but the steak and chips?"

"Yeah, I never really liked the steak… Actually you know what, order one of those as well- maybe I'll change my mind."

"OK. Any desserts?" The waiter asked, though at this point the question had become a rhetorical.

"How about I get back to you on that- I'll need to see how I feel." Caroline answered, though she knew that she wouldn't even be able to make it past all of the starters, let alone anything else.

"And when will the rest of your party be arriving?"

"My party?" Caroline furrowed her brow, confused. "Oh, no- this is just for me." Caroline smiled at the now astonished waiter. He then stared from a triumphant looking Caroline, to the despondent man sat next to her, whose drink glass was pressed firm against his temple, with a pained expression etched across his face. He offered him a look of sympathy before rushing to the kitchen to put the order through; this was going to be a long night.

Meanwhile, Damon observed Caroline smiling brightly, slowly sipping her drink, knowing that she was thinking that she had got one over on him. Little did she know that he didn't intend on paying for any of it. One of the many perks of being able to compel anybody he wanted to and bend them to his will. One of the downsides, of course, was being unable to let her know that she hadn't succeeded in annoying him.

"This is so not how I saw this night panning out." Caroline thought aloud, abruptly bringing a halt to the welcomed silence that Damon had quietly been enjoying.

"You and me both…"

"Right, you were expecting a date with Peyton."

"And you were expecting to go out with your preppy little boyfriend. What's his name- Jim, James, Marcus…?"

"His name is Matt."

"And I'm already falling asleep."

"Then don't ask!" She snapped, barely keeping hold of her patience.

"Didn't he used to go out with Elena?" Damon asked; his question answered by Caroline's lack of response. Seeing an opportunity present itself, Damon let out a breath. "Wow… Aren't you even a little bit worried?"

"Worried about what?"

Damon shrugged his shoulders carelessly, "Your boyfriend on a date with his ex. You have no idea what they could be doing right now."

"I trust my boyfriend." She replied pointedly.

"More power to you; I don't know if I would be able to be so… _trusting_." He said in a way that, though sounding like a compliment, was very much intended to be taken as a negative connotation.

"It doesn't bother me." She lied coolly. "I'm surprised that you are okay about your brother going on a date with Peyton. It's very- gosh, what's the word…. _trusting._" Damon simply offered a tight lipped smile in response, as Caroline began to eat one of the starters that had arrived. Both unwilling to let the other know that what they had said had gotten to them, striking a raw nerve. They instead sat together in silence, as the insecurities and jealousies the pair held began eating away at them.

….

"So how long does your dad work away then?" Stefan asked, as the waiter left with their orders.

Peyton shrugged "It depends on the job. This one time, he left and he came back just a couple of weeks later- but normally he's away much longer than that. Longest he's ever been away is about 6 months."

"That must be hard for you."

"Yeah it is- some days are harder than others. But I know he calls whenever he can." Peyton sighed as she was reminded that aside from Mr. Saltzman passing on a gift from him; she hadn't spoken to her dad, even on the phone, in a really long time. Yes, it was definitely very hard for her. But she knew that he loved his job and she would never ask him to give up something he loved so much; especially after her mom died. "What about your parents? Damon never really talks about them."

This didn't surprise Stefan; the only time Damon ever mentioned their parents to him was when they were arguing- and even then it was in the heat of the moment. And he never talked about them with anyone other than Stefan; it was like that part of his life; the part when he was still human, when he couldn't choose not to feel, he preferred to just forget. Whereas Stefan tried to cling on desperately to that moment of his life, though he knew it was a fruitless task- no amount of want or desire could transform him back.

"I was three years old when my mom died, so I was really too young to know her. But Damon was about ten and from what I can remember, I know that he was really close to her; I'm pretty sure he was her favourite." Stefan answered honestly, as his mind relived a rare memory where Damon was truly happy, at a point in a time where Katherine didn't even exist yet.

"What about your dad?" Immediately, Peyton regretted asking the question as she noticed Stefan's muscles tense up and his arms fold across his body defensively.

"He died years after my mom died. Damon and my dad's relationship was… strained after our mom died. I think my dad resented Damon for how close he was with my mom like he had taken her away from him from the second Damon was born. And I guess Damon blamed my dad for her death. Then Katherine came along and it just got a lot worse."

"You and your dad were close." Peyton stated, less as a question and more as a fact, aware that Stefan had only really talked about Damon's relationship with their father and not his own.

"We were… once." Stefan whispered sombrely, as Peyton noted a dark expression etched across his face, as if he was reliving some painful memory.

"I'm sorry. I am being an idiot." She blurted out. "I mean, of all people, I should know what its like- not wanting to talk about dead parents." She said, annoyed at how tactless and inconsiderate she was being.

"It's okay." Stefan shook his head, "It was a long time ago. I've learnt to… live with it."

"And Damon?"

"Damon? He's uh… He's always been better at adapting to change. Probably more than anyone else I know." Stefan answered. Even before the transformation, Damon seemed to have an indescribable way of coping with whatever was thrown at him. The only emotion Damon regularly expressed was anger, but Stefan could recall only two times where Damon seemed visibly hurt; unsurprisingly, both times it was Katherine that was the root cause.

…

Damon glanced across to Caroline to see her checking her phone for at least the fifth time since all the starters had been cleared away. "Relax, I'm sure wonder boy and Elena are only doing PG-13 stuff" Considering for a moment, "at the most". He added, as if that would provide some great comfort.

"Why do you always have to be such an asshole?" Caroline asked sharply, as Damon filled his glass to the brim, preparing himself for another tirade of poorly constructed insults aimed to upset him. "If you think it makes you look mysterious or cool, you're wrong- it's just sad and pathetic and just points out to everyone what a cold-hearted, uncaring douche bag you really are."

"Ouch- your sound assessment of my character really wounds me, Caroline." He replied sardonically.

"Oh my god!" She let out a cry of frustration. This was exactly what she was talking about. Once again, she was completely baffled at how Peyton actually enjoyed his company.

"I figure she just wants for my body" was the cool reply from Damon as he shrugged his shoulders, throwing Caroline completely off guard as she realized she had voiced her last thought aloud.

"Well if that's the case, she is going to be _seriously_ disappointed." Caroline interposed.

Damon let out a short snort of laughter, "Well, that was a cheap shot. Especially when we both know that you're lying."

"Were you always this arrogant?"

"Its not called arrogance when you've got the goods to back it up."

"Pass me a bucket." Caroline groaned in disgust.

"If you're feeling sick, please feel free to leave. If you're lucky, maybe wonder boy can extract himself from Elena long enough to see you how you are." OK, so that really was a cheap shot, but Damon couldn't help it; nobody should be subjected to spending this long alone with Caroline.

But if Caroline was affected by Damon's dig, she didn't show it, "What are you doing here, Damon?"

"Working my way slowly towards bankruptcy, evidently." Damon pointed to the waiter who was arriving with the first of Caroline's main courses.

"I mean it. Why are you here?" She asked, not giving him time to respond before continuing, "…Because if this is part of your plan to win Peyton over, it's not going to work. If I can see through it, then she definitely can. She's not interested in you."

"Who says I'm interested in her?" Damon asked "And even if I was interested, what makes you think it has anything to do with you", annoyed at how not only his brother but Caroline as well now seemed to think that they had some sort of say in his love life.

She scoffed, remarking "Please! I see more of you now whenever I'm with Peyton, than when we were together. And, it's my business because she's my friend and I care about her."

"Your point being…"

"You and her would never work. She's not going to give you what you want." At his blank expression, she sighed "She's not the kind of girl that would just sleep with you."

"Like you, you mean." He muttered under his breath, as she fixed him with a cold glare; though, in all fairness, even she had to admit she had walked right into that one.

"And considering that's the only thing that you're interested in, you might as well stop now because you're wasting your time."

"And what if I'm interested in more than just sex?" He replied, shocking both himself and Caroline as the words left his mouth. _He did not just say that out loud. If only Stefan could hear him now…_

"Are you?" The blonde frowned, all the anger and frustration suddenly forgotten as her curiosity took hold.

Damon shook his head; he may have let the ball drop once, but he was not about to have this conversation with Caroline. So instead he answered the only way he knew how; he lied. "Are you kidding? Of course it's about the sex."

Caroline nodded her head slowly, still not entirely convinced, she continued "Well if it was more than just sex it still wouldn't work out. I can tell you she's not interested in starting any kind of relationship with you."

"Why- because of Lucas?" Damon snorted, noting Caroline's stupefied expression, "What? You think all I talk about with her is how hot my body looks under this shirt?"

"Pretty much." Caroline replied honestly, unable to imagine Damon holding up an entire conversation that wasn't composed of him complimenting himself or alternatively, him insulting the other person- that was essentially what all of her conversations with him were based on.

"The Lucas thing won't last." Damon mused sagely, as though he was speaking from experience.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Unrequited love fades… eventually." He of all people should know. Granted it took him almost two centuries to get over Katherine, but Peyton didn't have the luxury of eternity, so it shouldn't last nearly as long for her he reasoned. He turned to face the pensive teenager, lost in thought "But you know all about that."

"If this is another dig at mine and Matt's relation-" Caroline began, her capacity to tolerate the snide remarks Damon had been throwing her way all night had well and truly exceeded its quota.

"Relax, for once its not. I'm just saying that there are certain people who you can tell, yours truly included, have endured the excruciating torture that is unreciprocated love." He began to pick at one of Caroline's untouched meals the waited had left a couple of minutes earlier, deciding it was safe to continue when Caroline didn't swat his hand away. "Me, you, Peyton- we all clearly have. Stefan's never experienced it… Neither has Elena. Am I wrong?" He asked, fully expecting Caroline to disagree for the simple reason that it seemed physically impossible for them to agree on anything.

This is why it surprised him when Caroline nodded her head in response, "No you're right." She thought back to the first boy she ever loved; she was 14 (so she wasn't exactly sure how much it counted as a 'real love') and he was 16. He left the summer she turned 15 and she remembered crying for hours and drowning her sorrows in chocolate chip ice cream as Elena and Bonnie consoled her. And then of course, there was Matt and the fleeting moments where she felt he would never love her; not like how he used to love Elena. Or still did love? She hadn't shared those insecurities with anyone- not even Peyton or Bonnie. But instead of dwelling on that, she suddenly realized a personal detail Damon had just disclosed.

"Wait a minute… Who have you ever loved?" Caroline asked disbelievingly.

"Nobody you know." He answered vaguely, not in the mood to highlight any more vulnerability to Caroline than he already shown.

Though, unfortunately for him, Caroline was incapable of picking up on hints. "How long were you in love with her for?"

Damon let out a sigh of frustration, attempting to change the subject "Are you going to drink that?" He pointed to the champagne that had been sitting in its chilled metal container for the past half hour.

"No, take it." She shoved the glass and champagne bottle in his direction uninterested, and ignoring his obvious reluctance to answer the question, she continued "So, who was she?"

"She was just a girl." Damon shrugged his shoulders, as he thought to himself- _she was not just a girl._

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Caroline's lips turned upward into a smile as she noted Damon's sudden reserved behaviour, and acknowledged this was the first time that she had ever said something to Damon that truly affected him.

Damon grimaced at how exposed he felt in this conversation. "Let's just drop the subject."

"She must have been someone pretty spectacular." Caroline whispered, more to herself than Damon.

"She was a bitch." He stated, a hint of anger creeping into his voice.

"Then you two were clearly a match made in heaven."

"You would think so…" He sighed inwardly, thinking how only a few months ago he considered that to truly be the case. That was until, of course, he discovered what a raging, lying sociopath she really was.

Caroline noted Damon's aloof expression and noted that if she didn't change the subject- and soon- she may just change her opinion of Damon completely, and that was just something she really wasn't ready to deal with.

"I guess part of me should be grateful that it didn't work out." She said, clarifying when he looked at her with a look of confusion "I mean, if you two had worked out and you were together right now, I might think that were actually a decent human being."

"Now that really is a chilling thought." He shuddered visibly at the idea.

"Of course it doesn't change the fact that you're deluding yourself if you think you and Peyton are going to happen." Caroline couldn't help but add.

"Oh, she wants me!" He declared self-assuredly.

"Keep dreaming." Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Oh trust me- in the dreams I've had, she _definitely _wants me." Damon smirked as his mind went to dirty places and Caroline's face exhibited visible disgust.

…..

"So… this was fun." Peyton stated as they walked out of the restaurant and began the fifteen minute walk towards her car- the only place they could find free parking at the time.

"Yeah, we should do it again." Stefan agreed, casually handing Peyton his jacket, reminding her of how Damon had done the exact same thing that night in the forest.

"You can bring Elena." Peyton offered.

"Right, and you can bring…" Stefan trailed off.

"Damon?" Peyton finished for him as she laughed.

"Yeah that sounds a little weird." Stefan smirked, as he imagined how catastrophic that date would be, "Damon and double date should never be used in the same sentence."

"Damon and the word 'date' should never be used in the same sentence." Peyton countered.

"Not even with you and him?" Stefan asked, raising his eyebrows at her expectantly.

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Peyton asked, playing dumb, though she knew what was coming- Caroline had already asked her multiple times whether or not she liked Damon. Even Tyler asked her at one point- though his way of putting it was less "Do you have feelings for him?" and more "Are you sleeping with him?"

"Come on! It's obvious you like him." Stefan answered, feeling close enough to her now that he could be frank with her.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, for a start- you mentioned his name and brought him up in conversation out of the blue more than once when we were eating."

"I did not!" Peyton denied vehemently, grateful for the dark sky that was hiding the blush slowly travelling up her cheeks.

"And you don't seem to be the type of person that would spend as much time with Damon as you do, if you didn't like him to some extent." Stefan reasoned, ignoring her clear denial.

Peyton remained quiet; deciding that at this point, silence was the best way forward.

But eventually the silence got too much for her and she couldn't help but say "I do not like him. I'd have to be an idiot for liking someone so…so…" She stuttered over the last part of her statement- …someone so like her.

"I'm not judging you." Stefan regretted saying anything to begin with. "I just want you to be careful. He's…" Stefan began, unsure how to phrase himself.

"Bad news? Are you about to warn me off him again? Because you trying to be all forewarning and serious is too on the nose to me to take it genuinely." She cracked a slight smile.

"No." He shook his head. "It's just Damon's… complicated. I don't think he would be good boyfriend material right now."

"Well that's a shocker!" Peyton replied flatly, unimpressed at Stefan if these were the only words of wisdom he had to offer.

"If you got into a relationship with him right now, he wouldn't be in it for the right reasons. It's too soon." Stefan answered succinctly, avoiding the mention of the one person's name he really didn't need to say out loud. Peyton understood. She really did; she couldn't be in a relationship until she was finally happy with herself and being by herself. And it was the same for Damon. The two of them together would only end one way.

….

Caroline noticed Peyton and Stefan walking into the bar and immediately jumped from her seat; whatever anger she had felt towards Peyton forgotten as soon as she saw her. Stefan observed his brother sitting alone and made his way over to him, leaving the two friends to talk.

"So, am I forgiven?" Peyton asked, relieved the welcome she received wasn't one of violence like she had expected.

"As terrible as spending that long alone with him was…. Yes, you're forgiven."

"Was it really that bad?"

"Well, I didn't kill him- so I feel like there has been some degree of progress in our relationship." Caroline reasoned, before adding "Not to say that I didn't want to…. Multiple times…. With one of those sharp poky weapon things you always see in really bad 1980's horror films."

"I believe the word you're looking for is knife." Peyton offered sarcastically, refraining to smile as Caroline swatted her arm in response.

"I just spent one and a half hours alone with Damon Salvatore- I think the least you can do is hold back on the sarcasm a smidge!"

"OK, OK- I'm sorry!"

"So, how was the date?"

"More torturous than when I decided I was going to try and live off Bambi blood for a whole month in the summer of '69." The blue eyed vampire turned to his brother.

"Why did you do that?" Stefan asked incredulously; the two brothers always came in and out of each others lives and in 1969, Stefan recalled, he was travelling in India with Lexi and some other vampires they had met along the way.

"Nixon had just come into power." Damon replied simply, as if that would somehow explain everything to Stefan. "I think I was just having the vampire equivalent to a midlife crisis." At his brother's look of complete awe, he shrugged his shoulders "I figured if my cool baby bro was doing it, then maybe I should give it a try."

"It's amazing how, even after all these years; you still manage to surprise me." Stefan remarked, astounded.

"Well that is because, unlike you little brother, I am not an open book- I like to keep people on their toes, gives life all the more excitement and intrigue."

"You don't think being a vampire gives your life enough excitement and intrigue as it is?" He raised his eyebrows in incredulity.

"Oh, come on Stefan; even I have to admit that the novelty of being a vampire wears off _a little _from time to time." Damon answered honestly, as he was reminded how little he felt like his brother knew him sometimes.

"You love being a vampire." Stefan frowned in confusion. He was certain that he had met no other vampire that enjoyed being one and the perks that it brought as much as his brother.

"I do. I love being who I am- having the power that I do. I wouldn't have it any other way. But then something will happen every three of four of decades, and there's a part of me that will want something more…Something better." It just so happened for Damon that this inexplicable longing for something more had come about two decades too early.

Before Stefan could quiz him any more, like Damon was positive that he would, Elena ran up from behind them, placing her hands over Stefan's eyes. "Guess who?" She whispered into his ear. Stefan turned around to kiss his girlfriend chastely on the lips. "Hi." He smiled against her lips.

"Hey yourself. You have a nice date?"

"Yeah, I did- you?"

"Yeah- me and Matt hung out at the arcade and talked."

"I had a wonderful date too, thanks for asking Elena." Damon said, inserting himself into the conversation.

"Happy to hear, Damon." Elena replied dully before turning back to her boyfriend. "Caroline's getting a lift back with Matt, do you mind dropping me off back home?"

"Yeah, of course." Stefan agreed, quickly nodding goodbye to his brother and then walking away with Elena.

Damon turned his head just in time to see Elena and Stefan walking out the front doors and Caroline hugging Peyton goodbye and Matt waited patiently, holding the door open for her as she walked through. Peyton turned to leave and then noticed Damon still sat at the bar, where he had been since she had left him a couple of hours ago. She gave him a slight smile and a small wave before turning around to leave.

She got to her car door before she heard someone call after her; though she didn't need to turn around to see who it was. It felt like they were always chasing each other, caught in this never-ending game of cat and mouse.

He hesitated. He hadn't actually thought out what he was going to say past calling her name to get her attention. He eventually settled on "Hey."

"Hi." Peyton raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to say something more, "what's up?"

"Nothing." Damon shook his head, as he marvelled at how stupid he must look; he literally stopped her from leaving just so he could say the words 'hey' and 'nothing.' Deciding he should probably say something so they didn't seem like two people standing a couple of feet apart just staring at each other in silence, he asked "You had a good night?"

Peyton smirked, "You are the _worst_ at small talk, you know that?"

"Yeah well, I'm new to this." He justified, as he realized that this was going to be much harder than he imagined.

"New to what?" Peyton furrowed her brows, still unsure what exactly _this_ was.

"The whole honesty thing." OK, now he really was making no sense.

"Right …. Did Caroline slip something in your drink?"

"What? No." Damon said, feeling his palms get sweaty in nervous anticipation.

"Well whatever it is, can it wait until tomorrow because-"

"Go on a date with me."

"What?" Of all the things Peyton imagined Damon could have possibly wanted to say to her that was the furthest down on the list.

"Lets do this-us. Let's give us a shot."

"You're drunk?" But she knew this wasn't the case; she had seen him drunk and this definitely wasn't what it looked like.

"No."

"Then you're…. you're wrong." She replied in a pathetic attempt to dismiss him.

"I'm wrong?" He repeated, unable to resist the urge to smile.

"Yeah! You're wrong." She exclaimed, feeling herself get unreasonably angry at the position he was putting her in.

"Are you aware of how _ridiculous _you sound right now?"

"I'm ridiculous? I'm not the one that just asked you out on a date!"

"Which you still haven't responded to by the way."

"No! I'm not answering you."

"You sound like a two year old right now." He remarked.

"I don't care." She folded her arms stubbornly across her chest. "I'm not doing this with you."

"Why the hell not?" He frowned.

"Because, this isn't what you want. You don't want me."

"God!" He exhaled deeply, "I am sick to death of people telling me what _I_ want-" He moved closer to her, eliminating any space that separated them. "-of people telling me _who_ I want."

"And you think I'm who you want?" She raised an eyebrow, her voice laced in scepticism and doubt.

"Well… I guess you'll do until someone better comes along." He joked, immediately taking it back when she didn't crack so much as a smile.

"Damon, a couple of weeks ago you didn't even want me, you wanted-"

"Things change." He cut her off.

"If only it was that simple." She let out a mirthless laugh.

"It can be." He inched closer to her; his face close enough to hers that if she wanted to, she could kiss him. He could feel her warm, hot breath against his cold skin providing him solace against the harsh winter air that surrounded them. "What do you want?" He whispered delicately, as if the answer to this question would solve everything.

"Damon, you can't-"

"No." He shook his head, "Forget about me. Ignore everything I've just said and tell me. What do you want, Peyton?"

She swallowed away the lump in her throat. Her hazel eyes searching the steely blue eyes staring back at her, expectantly; hopeful. "Lucas." She replied so quietly she was unsure whether he heard, so she repeated, louder this time "I want Lucas." He winced noticeably, slowly detaching himself and stepping further back, putting some distance between the two of them.

"And I _hate _myselffor that more than you will ever know." Peyton felt a tear roll down her cheek, biting her inner lip and trying to stop any more from falling. "Because he is with my best friend and he's happy with her, and she's happy. And I desperately want to be happy with them. I want to stop feeling like this, Damon! I need to stop feeling like this. God, I don't want to love him!" She breathed out, feeling all the frustration that she had been keeping bottled up for so long finally spilling out of her.

Peyton turned her back to Damon, as she wiped furiously away at the tears that were now rushing down her face. She felt weak and pathetic and she didn't want anyone to see her like this, but she was fed up of pretending everything was okay; like she was okay. After she had finally controlled herself, and the tears had almost ceased, she felt Damon's strong arms turn her around to face him and before she knew it, he had enveloped her in a hug, and she felt herself automatically leaning into him.

"I'm sorry." She whispered against his chest.

"I can take the rejection, but I'm really not going to accept the pity." He replied, as his hands stroked her golden, untamed curls. Another moment of silence passed between them before Damon broke any seriousness in the conversation by joking "So just to clear it up- does this mean sex is also completely off the table?"

She laughed through her tears, "You're an idiot." She lifted her head out of his chest so she was staring at him through bleary eyes.

"And you are a mess." He replied, recalling the exact words that she had used to describe him when she came back to her flat to find him waiting at her door like a drunken idiot.

"I guess it takes one to know one." She sniffled, the usual cutting tone that accompanied her words that he was so accustomed to considerably less affective when she was wiping away tears as she was scolding him. When he told her this, the only thing he was rewarded with was sharp slap across his arm.

"Wow, violent and emotionally unavailable. Aren't you just the perfect catch?" Damon smiled, as he rubbed his sore arm.

"Better than being jaded and emotionally stunted." She replied, slightly more menacingly this time, as he noted the fire slowly returning to her eyes.

"Well that's just a matter of opinion." He softly moved a tendril of hair out of her face. "You going to be ok to drive back home?"

Peyton tilted her head to the side, looking at him like he was a complete idiot; she answered flatly "No Damon. The emotional turmoil has crippled me so completely that I'm not going to be able to drive the two miles to my house."

"Nice to know your sarcasm is still perfectly in tact."

"Oh that will never go- kind of like how I know that your ego is still in tact." Peyton told him assuredly.

"Yeah, like you saying no to me is going to make me think any less of myself." He scoffed, perfectly proving her point. She smiled, reluctantly moving out of his warm, welcoming arms and walking towards her car. As her hand reached for the door handle, she stopped and looked up at him, "This is ok? Us; we're okay?" She asked him, attempting to mask the obvious concern in her voice. Though she still couldn't name what exactly the nature of their relationship was; and though, at least for right now, she didn't want it to go any further, she also didn't want it to change. She liked what they were; and she didn't want to lose that.

He replied with such certainty that all her doubts and worries disappeared. "We're perfect."

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, thats chapter 12 up (will respond to reviews in next chapter) and I hope you all liked it (well as much as you could considering Damon and Peyton didn't get together at the end of the chapter!) . Chapter 13 coming much,MUCH sooner!**


	13. I think we're compatible

**Authors Note: Ahhh, I really don't mean for it to be this long between updates and I feel like I'm just giving excuses! But I just want to say no matter how long I may take to update (and you are probably all aware that it may sometimes be a while!), I will never stop writing this story and I will see it through to the end no matter what! I also have a newfound respect for fanfic writers that write give regular updates on their stories! Anyway enough of me; this chapter is named after a Tv On the Radio song called Will do. ****I do not own the song or either of this songs. I sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Damon was feeling restless. It had been two days since his embarrassing, slightly alcohol infused, late night proclamation to Peyton and he had only seen her once, briefly, since. And even then she was Caroline and that high school kid he always saw her with that, for some inexplicable reason, he just didn't trust. So even then they didn't exchange so much as a harsh remark or hello- whichever happened to come first. He felt as if every menial task he was doing, from consulting with Liz and the vampire hit squad about the renewed safety of the town, to even bringing girls back to feed on, just left him feeling more aimless than ever. He had never felt like this before. He wasn't a philosopher; he was never concerned about the bigger picture, or the meaning of life (why worry about life when he was already dead?), but he found that everything he was doing had no purpose. The activities that he usually had such derived so much fun from now seemed boring and meaningless.

This, he told himself, was why he found himself walking into Stefan's room, standing at the door as Stefan was writing something, either in his journal, or doing some school homework; Damon couldn't quite decide which was more pathetic.

Thinking his brother didn't hear him come in, he was about to clear his throat when Stefan, not looking up from his book, asked "Is everything okay, Damon?"

"Have you ever heard of ennui?" Before Stefan could reply, Damon continued, "It's the sense of boredom and futility within life; a vague fatigue of being. I think I've got it."

"You're suffering from a vague fatigue of being?" Stefan raised his eyebrows at his brothers self diagnosis.

Damon shrugged his shoulders, slowly walking across the room to sit on the bed. "I'm just… bored. And I've tried everything, _believe me_, to try and fix it. I think it's this town…" Damon reasoned. He noticed that this would happen every now and then; he would get bored of a town, and move on. He could never settle. Admittedly, it was never accompanied with this feeling of purposelessness.

"You're thinking of moving again?" Stefan asked, all too aware of Damon's habits over the years. He would never truly settle in any one place, so he would constantly be moving. But he, just like Stefan, would always come back to Mystic Falls, because, though he would never say it out loud, it was home. The only home either of them ever truly knew. And vampires were creatures of habit.

Damon shook his head, "No… Not yet anyway." Though he had considered it, he soon quashed the idea, realizing, for reasons completely unbeknownst to him, he didn't want to move just yet.

"What then?"

"It's just I've spent all this time," wasting it, he thought to himself, "with one goal; open that tomb. It's open." And though it didn't exactly provide him with the result he expected, it did its ultimate job- it gave him resolution. And now with no other motivation, it felt as though he had nothing to live for. He figured all vampires must have felt like this at some point in their life; eternity was certainly a long enough time for all things to grow old eventually. Stefan was fine- he had spent the majority of his existence trying to deal with the transformation and self-rehabing himself to animal blood. And as for now, he had Elena.

Who did he have? Certainly not Katherine, like he had spent his whole life waiting for, searching for.

Then there was Peyton. But she was in love with somebody else…naturally. At this point, it would feel odd if any of the girls he liked actually had a genuine interest in him. Not that he was feeling sorry for himself or anything….

And it wasn't like everyone assumed- his interest in Peyton was in no way associated with everything he had just been through with Katherine. When he first met Katherine, there was a fascination; an excitement as she opened up a world to him that he would otherwise never know existed. But with Peyton it was different. There was a familiarity; an intimacy that he had never felt with anyone before. Yet against that, every time he spoke to her, every time he saw her, she felt like… a breath of fresh air. And existing as long as he had, meeting the number of people that he had; he knew that was a very rare feeling to come across.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"'I'll let you know when I find out."

…

"You got any idea what you want?"

Peyton frowned, wondering how he could be reading her thoughts. She slowly turning her head back towards Tyler and realized his question wasn't as deep as she thought as he pointed down at the menu, "You want to eat before we meet up with the rest of them guys?"

Peyton shook her head as Tyler glanced over the menu, "Well, I'm going to get something- I'm starving. Football practice was brutal."

Peyton slowly nodded her head, as her eyes soon went back to what had been occupying her attention for the last ten minutes.

"So, I made out with our Maths teacher today. It was hot, but not as hot as when I slept with our history teacher… Which would totally be weird as our history teacher is a dude." Tyler finished, his suspicions confirmed when Peyton didn't even bat an eyelid. He followed her eye line just in time to watch Damon leave with a girl in tow.

"Ignore him." Tyler shook his head, unsurprised; despite Peyton's protestations to the contrary, he didn't believe her for a second each time she claimed that he was 'just a friend'.

"Like I care." Peyton scoffed, turning her attention back to Tyler. She was a terrible liar.

"I don't get the big deal with that guy."

"I hope you don't." She smirked.

"Whatever, you know what I meant. It's like all girls just swoon over him or something for no reason."

"I don't swoon, Lockwood. I have never swooned in my entire life." Peyton shuddered at the thought of it.

"I'm just saying- you could do better." Tyler concluded. Peyton refrained from commenting that that ship had well and truly sailed; any possibility to take advantage of an opportunity that could present itself had completely dissipated the last night that they spoke to each other.

Instead, she took the compliment. "That's sweet."

"It's true." Tyler replied matter-of-factly, before looking back down, browsing through the meals. Tyler sighed, "Screw this. Let's just get a pizza on the way."

Peyton let out a short burst at laughter, "Like I'm letting you in my car with a pizza. I've seen you, Tyler- you're like the messiest eater ever."

"I went on a date with a guy!" Tyler exclaimed.

"How long are you going to keep holding that over my head?" Peyton cried back; it was the fifth time that he had used that. Today.

"Well, considering I went on a date with a guy for you…. I'm going to say a little while longer." It was without a doubt the longest, single most awkward hour of his life. They spent the night playing video games in dead silence, and just when he thought it couldn't get any worse; his mom came in asking if they wanted any refreshments and commenting how… Ian? John? -was the best date Tyler had brought home in years. So yes, he was _definitely _going to be milking that for as long as it would last.

….

Stefan couldn't help but laugh as him and Elena were interrupted by a girl walking down the stairs and casually leave the house without so much as a look in their direction.

"A friend of Damon's, I take it." Elena asked knowingly.

"One of many." At Elena's slightly amused expression, Stefan continued, "Oh, yeah… They either come by themselves, or they come in pairs, or groups… But no matter what- they come often." It had been happening all afternoon; since his conversation with his older brother that morning. If this was his idea of 'finding purpose in life', it needed work. "I swear he's got them on speed dial."

"Well let's just hope it doesn't happen all day."

"Yeah, remind me again how exactly you somehow invited everyone over here, again?"

Elena shrugged her shoulders, replying innocently "I may have let slip to Tyler and Matt about your car."

Damon came bounding down the stairs, having heard the last part of their conversation, "Stefan, you didn't tell me we would be hosting. I haven't had time to take my suit to get dry cleaned, or give the place a sprucing up" He said, as his finger wiped away an imaginary spec of dust, "Or hide the blood bank in the fridge." Damon smirked, accomplishing his goal as he saw Elena's look of horror. "Speaking of… I'm thirsty." Damon walked over to the fridge, perusing the contents.

"Damon, cut it out." Stefan warned his brother, aware of how upset Elena was becoming.

"Oh come, she knows about us now. Surely one the benefit's that comes with her knowledge is that I can finally drink freely in front of her."

"Maybe we should just hang out some place else." Elena began before Stefan cut her off, shaking his head.

"No, you wanted to do it here then we'll do it here. Damon's not even going to be here." Stefan reassured her, before looking over to Damon, "Right?"

Damon held his hands as if to say 'what did I do?' Eventually sighing, as Stefan threw him a menacing glare "I'm a 170 year old vampire and on the list of things I want to do before I die… again… a teenage party with you and my brother, Elena, really isn't on the top of my list. It's not even in my top 10."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be in my room." Damon said, as he took a bottle of blood from the fridge, deciding to drink it in his room; he really couldn't be dealing with the self-righteous looks of indignation and/or disapproval from the pair as he knew he would if he drank in front of them.

The day, thus far, had been a complete write-off. This whole 'find a new meaning to life thing' wasn't nearly as fun as he had originally thought. Ok, so the twins and that hot little barista were a little fun but that wasn't the point. When humans experienced a mid-life crisis, they usually go out and buy cars, Damon thought to himself. Somehow, he didn't think an Aston Martin would solve all his problems.

…

"Hey, how come Bonnie couldn't make it?" Caroline asked as Peyton watched both Elena and Stefan tense visibly in their seats; noting no-one else seemed to pick up on it.

"She couldn't make it..." Elena shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Right, so its got nothing to do with the fact that Damon lives here." Caroline retorted. Elena wasn't the best liar, but even if she was; Caroline wasn't stupid. Bonnie and Elena were avoiding each other, not to mention that every time they were in a group, Bonnie wouldn't even talk to Stefan except to say hello.

"He was actually talking about moving this morning." Stefan quickly informed them; aware that if he didn't, an issue would soon be made out of Bonnie's absence. Her and Elena still weren't talking since the night the tomb was opened and her grandmother died. Not to mention that she now hated him by association to Damon; or more by association to what they were.

Stefan glanced in Peyton's direction as he noticed her eyes widen in surprise, sitting up straighter in her seat. But any emotion Peyton was displaying on her face, Stefan either didn't pick up on it or, more likely, chose to pretend he didn't notice, as his eyes broke his gaze from hers.

"Seriously? Wow, all my prayers have just been answered." Caroline mumbled under her breath.

"Car-" Matt looked to his girlfriend disapprovingly.

"What? I'm just saying…"

"Hey, guys, as fun as this… I'm going to. My dad just text me and said he wants me back home- apparently him and my mom are entertaining some high class big wigs."

"What?" Peyton shot up from her seat as Tyler got up from his. "You just got here!"

"Yeah and between you and me…" He leaned in to whisper to her as she followed him to the door, "It kind of blows. If it's not Stefan making out with Elena, or Matt making out with Caroline, or Caroline bitching about Damon…. I think you get my point. Never thought I'd say this but I'd prefer listening to my dad talk politics for the rest of the night."

"Yeah, which is exactly why you _can't _leave me here alone."

Tyler shrugged his shoulders, "Just make an excuse to bail and I'll hook up with you later on."

"Traitor! You suck, you know that!" She spat out.

"Look, just leave in like 10 minutes- they won't even notice you're gone." Tyler gestured over to the two couples who were already engrossed in their other half's once again. "See you soon." Before Peyton could get another word in, Tyler was gone, and she suddenly felt a lot less guilty about the man date she had set him up on.

She sighed to herself before turning to Stefan "Where's the bathroom?"

"Just up the second set of stairs, walk to the end of the hallway and it's the first door on the right. You want me to show you?" Stefan offered.

"No, I'm sure I'll find it- thanks." She said, slowly making her way up the stairs, hoping to drag out the next ten minutes as much as possible.

…..

One wrong turn, and possibly one flight of stairs too high, and Peyton realized she was lost. It didn't help that they lived in a freaking boarding houses; there were bedrooms everywhere, and conveniently not a single one of them so far was a bathroom.

She wandered towards the end of the hallway, opening yet another bedroom and for some unknown reason, she found herself walking in. The room seemed familiar, almost. Of course that was impossible as, up until today she hadn't made her way past the first floor.

The room was large; grandiose and over the top, but sparsely decorated; no photos or anything remotely personal in the room. She looked around to spot a bookcase to her left with just a few books on the shelf; The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Great Expectations, (the classics essentially). There were a few clothes scattered on the floor, telling her that the room was lived in, leading her to realize there was only one of two people who could possibly occupy the bedroom. There was a smell to the bedroom as well, a mix of men's aftershave and… something else that she couldn't quite place. Her eyes drifted towards the desk, spotting the bottle and it suddenly hit her; bourbon. Of course there were dozens of rooms in this mansion and she would walk into Damon's. She walked over to the desk and noticed her own familiar handwriting sneaking out from a few scattered pieces of paper. Curious, she picked it up and smiled. It was the sketch that she drew of him. She didn't know why the fact that he had kept it made her happy; not that she was expecting him to throw it away. She wasn't expecting anything from him honestly. It was just…. nice that he kept it.

"Well, well if it isn't Peyton Sawyer." He leaned against the frame of the door, startling her from where she stood. He knew he should be surprised that she was there, in his room, but he wasn't. She turned her head to face him, as his eyes took her in. Her hazel eyes were the first thing that stood out to him, all wide, and taken aback and guarded. Instantly, she folded her arms defensively across her chest, obscuring the name of some band he knew he wouldn't have heard of. Her blonde curls framed her face perfectly and he decided in that moment, before the silence was lost and the non-stop dialogue began, that she was truly breathtaking. He found himself asking why he had waited so long to see her again.

"How long have you been standing there?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He replied, walking further in as he realized this was _his _bedroom and that he didn't need to be standing awkwardly at the doorway. He noticed the paper that she was holding in her hand. "Admiring your own handiwork?"

She glanced down before looking back up at him, "I was just thinking that I did you more justice than you deserved."

"Well then, it's a good job that you're not the one that has to look at it every day." He said as he took it from her and put it back on the desk. She walked away from him, and over to his bed, sitting down without invitation. He stared at her as he acknowledged the amount of girls that been in his bed all day; and yet, she was the only one that he wanted there. He shook his head at the thought, turning away from her and trying his hardest not to think about how much he wanted to sit there with here. "So," he cleared his throat, "how come you aren't downstairs, enjoying your little slumber party."

"They're all coupled off and I'm just..."

"A spare part?"

"I was going to say fifth wheel, but sure that works too." She sighed, wondering why he was avoiding looking at her. "It was like that in Tree Hill too. It's like..."

"Loneliness seems to follow you wherever you go?" He finished for her again, as one of his pillows hit the back of his head and he was forced to turn around.

"How about you stop finishing my sentences for me?"

Damon shrugged his shoulders unapologetically. "It's no big deal- loneliness seems to follow me around wherever I go too. You get used to it."

"You didn't look too lonely this afternoon when I saw you heading back to your place with some girl." Peyton replied.

"I didn't notice you." He felt the need to tell her; he didn't do it on purpose. He wasn't trying to make her jealous and he needed to make sure she knew that.

"I know." She nodded, smiling slightly to reassure him.

"Why didn't you come over and say hello?"

"I didn't want to cramp your style."

"Never would have bothered you before."

"OK, next time that I see you flirting with some girl, I'll make sure to walk right over and interrupt." She replied, causing him to laugh.

"So what are you doing here?"

"Stefan invited us over." Peyton answered, though they both knew that what he meant.

"I meant, what are you doing here-" he pointed around him, "in my bedroom."

"I was looking for the bathroom."

Peyton was quietly relieved when he neglected to point out that his bedroom looked nothing like a bathroom and the fact that he didn't call her out on her obvious snooping. Instead he responded "My bathroom's just over there." Damon gestured to adjoining room she had noticed when she had first walked in.

He watched as she left and by the time she emerged a couple of minutes later, he wasn't there. She frowned, as she sat back down on the bed, picking up a novel she noticed on the bedside table- The Fountainhead.

"We both know that if you caught me snooping in your room, you would throw a bitch fit." Damon said, as he walked back into a room, empty glass in hand.

"Please! Like I'd let you anywhere near my bedroom."

"You read it?" He ignored her, instead gesturing towards the book Peyton was holding. She looked down at it then shook her head in response, "Borrow it. Its one of the few books I actually enjoy."

"Didn't really have you down as the romance novel type."

"Yeah, but you probably didn't have me down as the novel type." He remarked astutely, "besides, its not about a romance- not really. Take it."

"Thanks. So what are they doing downstairs?"

Damon shrugged, "Knowing little brother, telling Elena how much he loves her for the _hundredth _time today."

"You ever considered the possibility that you're just jealous?

He considered the question. "The thought crossed my mind once or twice, but then I came to the conclusion that I could never go out with Elena- it would be too weird." The idea of him and Stefan fighting over a girl once was understandable; the pair of them fighting over the identical girl years later would just be ridiculously stupid. What was the phrase? If we don't learn from history we are doomed to repeat it. That seemed very apt in their case.

"I didn't mean Elena. I meant- do you think you're jealous of him being in love and the fact that you're not?"

"Are you?"

"Am I jealous of Stefan being in love?" Peyton raised an eyebrow.

"Sure- Stefan, Caroline…. Everyone else around you being in love, and you just being… you."

"I _want _to say no- and most days, I'd be telling the truth. But yeah, there are days where it's just lonely." Peyton answered honestly. She could have lied; it would have been easy to say no and that she didn't need anyone. But it was pointless, because she knew that he would know she was lying. That and the fact that he was probably the only person that wouldn't think she was pathetic for being jealous of people being in love.

"Pride yourself in knowing that 99% of the people that you know that are in relationships aren't going to last." He offered.

"You are such an optimist."

"I'm a realist."

"More like a sadist."

"Look, when you've been around as long as I have, you learn certain things." He shrugged his shoulders, as he sat down at the edge of the bed.

"Damon, you're 26."

There were times, fleeting moments, where he felt the urge to tell Peyton who he was; what he was. This was one of those times. Except normally when he told people what he was, it was just before he was about to kill them or at the very least feed on them. And he would get some sick pleasure from the fear they would always get when he told them, and feed off it like the animal he was. But with her, that was what seemed to be stopping him from telling her; he didn't want her to be scared of him, to hate him. So he reasoned that was why he continued to lie to her; because as much as they shared a certain understanding, there was also a part of him, (a large part of who he was), that she could never even begin to comprehend.

It didn't mean, though, that he enjoyed the constant lies and always having to be careful with his words. "That's already eight years more life experience than you."

"Right!" She laughed, "and of the two of us, who would you say is more mature?"

"Hmm, let me think about that." He said, as he pretended to consider the question, "oh and by the way, are we including your constant PMSing?"

She refrained from hitting him, instead countering "only as long as we take into account the fact that you're a 26 year old guy who doesn't have a job, living off his family's fortune and spending the majority of his day in a bar drinking bourbon whilst hitting on girls half his age."

"First of all, you're not 13 so I'm not nearly as creepy as you've just made me sound."

"And second of all?" She laughed.

Damon considered, "No… There is no 'second of all', the rest of that was pretty much dead on."

"Do you never get bored of it?" Peyton wondered aloud.

"Of course." He answered her truthfully

"Stefan said today that you were thinking of leaving Mystic Falls."

"I considered it." Damon replied, as he smirked, "Why? Would you miss me if I left?"

"Yeah." She slowly nodded her head, surprising him with her candid reply. "But don't read too much into it- I'd only miss you for the company." She quickly added before the cocky smirk that was slowly growing on his face got any bigger.

"You understand that missing my company is the perfect reason to miss me."

"Whatever." She shrugged off nonchalantly when she realized he had her backed into a corner.

"So, you'd miss me if I left?" At her deliberate silence, he continued, "You like having me around… You like my company."

"Woah, that is a big step up from missing you if you left Mystic Falls! I tolerate you."

"It's OK, sweetheart- I get it; you can't live without me."

She smiled inwardly; maybe the 'sweetheart' was growing on her when he didn't say it in a patronizing way. "I can survive perfectly well without you, Damon- I've managed 18 years just fine without you in my life."

"Sure," He conceded begrudgingly before adding, "But who wants to be doing 'just fine' in life? I add spice. I make life interesting."

"If by interesting, you mean unbearable."

"Right?" He scoffed, "so unbearable that you'd miss me if I wasn't around."

"You're reading _way_ too much into that."

"Oh, _hell yes _I am. I'm holding onto that one until the day I die."

"That day anytime soon?" She widened her eyes at him hopefully.

Damon rolled hs eyes, "You're not fooling me."

"Excuse me?" She widened her eyes.

"The whole 'not give a crap about anyone attitude.'… It's BS."

"Pot meet kettle." Peyton countered back quickly.

"Yeah, but in my case I actually don't give a crap about anyone."

"Right- me Damon, me show no emotion." Peyton imitated in a caveman voice.

"God, it's like you've known me for years…" He remarked, sighing.

Peyton lay back down on the bed, curling her body to face him, "And just so we're clear, don't be thinking that you're one of the people that I pretend not to care about."

"I never said I was." He lifted his hands up as he walked towards her, sitting down at the foot of the bed.

"Good." She closed her eyes, snuggling her face into the pillow and inhaling. It smelled of… Damon. She tried to quash the butterflies running rampant in her stomach as she breathed in. She felt Damon shuffle in the bed, opening her eyes to see Damon's blue orbs staring back at her as he lay in front of her.

"You know, I don't normally let girls just sleep in my bed."

"Why am I so special?" Peyton asked softly, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

"I'm still trying to answer that question myself…" He whispered, as he fought back the urge to just touch her. He wanted to kiss her; hold her. And all of a sudden he was finding it harder and harder to deny what he knew to be true. A feeling that he hadn't felt in more than two human lifetimes; that he didn't think he would feel ever again. He was, it would seem, falling for Peyton Sawyer. He knew it was foolish. He knew Stefan would point out that the timing was questionable given recent events. And he was absolutely certain that it wouldn't end well for anyone, but he couldn't help it. He liked her. But more importantly he _felt_ something for her.

…..

Peyton suddenly awoke with a start, shooting up out of bed. "You okay?" Damon frowned, his eyes showing concern as he emerged from the bathroom.

"Yeah." She yawned, rubbing her eyes, "How long was I out for?"

"Not long- about half an hour." Damon shrugged, "Was thinking I was going to have to sleep on my couch."

"Aww, how gentlemanly of you…" She replied, clearly not impressed by his boast of chivalry.

"Sleep on my couch for a night and you'll realize how much of a gentleman I really am." Then he added as an afterthought, "In fact, how about we both have a test run on it."

"Why is it that 95 per cent of what comes out of your mouth are innuendoes?"

"What's the other 5 per cent?" Damon asked, his voice full of intrigue.

"It's an equal mixture of harsh insults and self-directed compliments."

"That does not sound like a nice person to hold a conversation with."

"No it is not, but you make for a good verbal punching bag."

"I feel so used… and _not_ in the good way." He said, doing up the buttons on his jacket as he put on a face of someone who had just been violated while Peyton simply rolled her eyes at his theatrics. "Now the perv feels abused."

"I'm not a perv!" He replied indignantly.

"Oh, I'm sorry- do you prefer pig?"

"One day this verbal punching bag is going to get sick of the name-calling."

She shrugged, "It's a mutual relationship- I take out my anger on you from time to time and in return I put up with all your annoying habits and mannerisms and… actually scratch that, I just put up with you period."

"Sounds like a friendship to me." He remarked.

"Have you ever had a friend before?" Peyton asked, wondering how Damon's definition of friendship had come to sound more like a business arrangement.

"Plenty," He scoffed, looking at her as if it was the most ridiculous question she had ever asked.

"One without benefits?"

"A friend without benefits may be _the _stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"You're disgusting…. And what's even worse is I know that you are being 100% serious right now."

"Of course I am- I never joke about sex."

"I'm sure none of the girls are laughing when they're getting their test results back."

"Just for future reference- I have never contracted nor have I passed on any kind of disease you may be suggesting…"

"There is no possible scenario where I would need that piece of information for any kind of reference."

"Ahhh, you genuinely believe that, don't you?" Damon smirked as she shot him a look of disgust.

"Damon." came the deliberately exaggerated response, "I. Am. Not. Going. To. Have. Sex. With. You… _Ever_."

Before he could reply with, what Peyton was sure, to be something that would make her want to hit him, Stefan walked through the door. "You ever hear of knocking, Stefan?" Damon sighed. Peyton quickly shot up into a sitting position, as if she had just been caught by her father doing something she shouldn't, warranting a raised eyebrow from Damon. Did she really care what anyone, least of all his brother, think about their relationship?

"Yeah, sorry- Liz is here to talk to you." Stefan opened the door more to reveal Sheriff Forbes, still in uniform, waiting eagerly behind Stefan and wearing an agitated expression. Damon looked from his brother to Liz and back again, clearly neither was willing to talk in front of Peyton which meant only one thing; vampire business.

"Can it wait?" He asked, though he already knew the answer. Before waiting for a reply, Damon begrudgingly got up from the space in his bed that he had gotten himself comfortable and turned to the blonde teen, telling her he would be back soon, though he knew that she would want a better explanation than that. Luckily she simply nodded and he left Peyton with Stefan as he walked Liz further down the hallway and into one of the many unoccupied guestrooms.

"Let me guess… Another dead body?" Though he really didn't need an answer to the question.

"How did you know?" Liz frowned.

"Well first- why else would you be coming by so late, needing to speak to me so urgently and in person? And second, and more importantly, whenever everything finally seems to be getting back to normal and I think I can relax some damn vampire business happens and ruins it." The vampire huffed.

"Thankfully, one of our deputies found the body before a member of the public so…"

"Ha! Thankfully!" Damon laughed, though Liz knew he was clearly not amused, "lets be thankful that yet another possibly psychopathic, raging bloodsucking vampire has decided to grace our town with its presence." He moved over to the bed, sitting down as he watched a cloud of dust rise up from the sheets as result; the many years that the room had been vacant suddenly made apparent. He figured he should be at least partly to blame; he did say just this morning that he was growing bored and restless.

"The coroner's ruling it as another animal attack. In the meantime, we need to discuss strategy. When you killed Logan-" Liz began before Damon cut her off.

"Look, Liz- can we talk about this tomorrow? It's not like the dead body's going anywhere."

"Sure…" Liz agreed reluctantly, before hastening to add, "But Damon, we need to make sure we fix this before it becomes a real problem. It's important-"

Damon waved his hand, already knowing the end of the speech, "I get it, town in danger- thousands of lives a risk. I'll come by the station in the morning." He reassured her as he ushered her out of the room and began walking the length of the hallway back to his bedroom, so Stefan could escort her out. As he walked back into his room with Liz in tow, he caught the end of Peyton and Stefan's conversation. "Who is going to be upset when they find out what?"

Peyton rolled her eyes at his unashamed eavesdropping. "You, when you find out that the skanky slut you brought back here last month is in fact pregnant with your devil spawn."

"Skanky slut… You're going to have to narrow that down a bit- was she the one with the limp or the sexy, emotionally closed off, feisty blonde who had an answer for everything?" He smirked when he saw her reach for a pillow to throw at him, before suddenly realizing they were with company she instead narrowed her eyes at him, shooting him a cold look.

"Actually it was the one you met at the theatre- she found out you were easy and you found out she had low self-esteem and could be easily taken advantage of. You remember her, right?"

"Righttt," Damon inhaled sharply, happily playing along with her game "Misty, I'm pretty sure her name was… Though you're going to have to be more specific in the future; low self-esteem and vulnerable is what I generally look for in girls. Misty could just as easily have been Katy, Emma, Jen, Michelle…"

Liz cleared her throat, once she had gotten over her initial shock, aware that if she didn't, they could just as easily continue as if neither her nor Stefan were even there. Stefan folded his arms across his chest, looking down at the floor as he attempted to mask the smile creeping across his face at the quick verbal battle of wits he had just witnessed in front of him. He couldn't remember the last time someone challenged Damon so much, and didn't just take his crap because he was… well, Damon. He had never seen them properly interact before but it seemed like… they complimented each other. Stefan was beginning to understand why the pair couldn't seem to escape each other, and why they enjoyed each others company so much (though both were too stubborn and proud to ever admit it). In some messed up, dysfunctional way, their attraction to each other made sense. But, either way, Damon was clenching his jaw, clearly irritated at the second time he had been interrupted with Peyton that night, so he walked over to Liz "I'll show you out." Liz nodded, saying her goodbyes before leaving the room. As he passed Damon, he turned to his brother, "Tell me later." He said, referring to the reason Liz had stopped by to talk. Damon nodded his head in agreement, waiting until Stefan had left the room before walking over to the window, shutting it and closing the curtains.

"So what was all that about?" Peyton was aware that he wouldn't just share that kind of information voluntarily.

Damon was careful with his words; it wasn't technically a lie. "Just founders council stuff."

"What was so urgent? Did she need a second opinion on blue or green for the colour scheme of the next town party?" Peyton raised an eyebrow, certain that he was lying.

"Can you listen to me when I ask you to just trust me and please don't ask." Damon sighed, suddenly very tired.

"What's wrong?" Peyton furrowed her eyebrows. He seemed upset; concerned about something and that wasn't an emotion she saw him display regularly.

What was wrong? For a start, another vampire had come to Mystic Falls. The last vampire that had come into town was, of course, Logan. And he attacked Peyton. And it was his fault. She could've died and it was his fault. So the prospect of another unpredictable, murdering animal in town was definitely not something he was excited about. Then there was the startling self-realization that he had come to tonight that he was beginning to develop deep feelings for Peyton; and the knowledge that her life could once again be in danger didn't help. And the icing on the spectacularly terrible cake was that he couldn't tell her any of this! And he wanted to tell her so badly. He didn't want to lie to her anymore; he had never spent such a long time with a human being and not told them who he was. It didn't matter that they were compelled not to be scared- they at least knew. And he wanted Peyton to know more than any of the other people he had told about him. But he couldn't; not without losing her. And he would possibly be okay at the chance of losing her, if he had her in the first place _to _lose, but he didn't. It was impossible for her to let her guard down and if he told her all of this, he would never have a chance with her. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. So, no- no he was not okay. But he couldn't explain any of this to her.

"Damon." Peyton stood up from the bed when he still hadn't responded.

"I'm fine." He laughed, shaking his head, "Actually, that's a lie. I'm not, but you are probably the only person _in the world_ that I can't talk to about this." And the _only_ person that he really wanted to talk to was the sad thought that crossed his mind.

"Well then I wish I was someone else..." She offered, unsure what else to say.

"I don't." Came the certain reply, half whispered across the length of the room, causing her to smile briefly. "God," He breathed out, putting a hand through his hair, "Why can't you go back to just half an hour ago where we were lying on my bed?"

Peyton shrugged her shoulder, answering simply, "It doesn't matter. The world would still be out there… Besides we were talking, not having sex- stop making it sound dirtier than it was."

The mood lightened as Damon smirked, "Like it wasn't heading in that direction anyway…"

"You're deluded."

"And you are in denial." He laughed.

"And I swear to God, if you keep telling people that we've slept together, I will kill you. It's bad enough Tyler already thinks we're doing it…"

"Who did I say we'd slept together to?"

"Umm, how about Stefan and Caroline's mom just now?"

"Like I care…" Damon scoffed.

"Well, I do! I don't want to be labelled as your next mindless victim who has clear emotional baggage to be sleeping with the biggest player in town."

Well, on the bright side, he had definitely been called worse. "I thought you don't care what people think of you."

"I don't. But I do care when people think I'm sleeping with you."

"Why do you insist on denying the inevitable?"

"You know, it's funny. When I met you the first thing I thought was… well, that you were a sleaze. But _then, _after I spoke to you, I thought you were the kind of guy that loves the anticipation; the thrill of the chase." The blonde told him, putting her hands on her hips.

"That _is _funny. You know what's funnier?" He took a step closer to her. "The first thing I thought when I met you was- this girl is stunning." His eyes never left hers as he noted her eyes widen in surprise and she swallowed a lump in her throat.

"That's not funny." Was the reply that finally came from her mouth.

"No." He shook his head in agreement, "But it shut you up which was what I was counting on… It also made you blush which I did not anticipate." He told her as he watched her face colour a rosy tint.

"I'm not blushing." She replied as he watched her face tell an entirely different story. She had never been one to take compliments well; her dad would always say that it was hilarious watching her either saying nothing, or refusing to accept when a compliment was given to her.

"My mistake." He conceded easily which surprised her. "Now, are we going to continue this stand-off, or are you going to sit back down and I'll pour you another drink." He said, equally surprised as she went to sit back down in her original spot on the bed without arguing. As he grabbed the bourbon and began pouring into the two glasses, he glanced over to Peyton and a thought crossed his mind. This was the first time today; in fact, it was the first time in the last couple of days that he had finally shaken the restless feeling that seemed to be following him wherever he went.

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**Author's Note: OK, so that was chapter 13 (which is insane for me to say!) I'm going to respond to reviews but I'm truly confused about when I last responded to reviews, so hopefully I don't miss anyone out!**

**saraelis- Apologies for the lateness of my updates lately- I'm terrible! Hope you are liking the chapters and where I am taking Damon/Peyton. Next chapter will also be quite a lot of Damon/Peyton. Lol I don't know if I'm a Stelena fan, but I think lately I'm preferring them to Delena!  
**

**Fearless by past- Very belated happy new year! Thank you for sticking with my story from the start and I'm glad you are still enjoying it!**

**Lilmisslynch**- **Hi! I'm glad you are enjoying my story and like how I write Damon. I'm trying to work on how I write Peyton as a character now I think as I think I've gotten the hang of how to write Damon's character; I'm not sure if maybe I need to write an equal amount of each of them in each chapter.** **Let me know what you think!**

**Nemi- Ohh, I would write this in French, but I pretty much only know the basics! I'm so glad you are enjoying my story and that you take the time to read the story even if it isn't in your first language- that means a lot! I also love that you now love Damon and Peyton as a couple. I'm just warning you that they probably won't be together as a couple for a while, but you should hopefully like the next chapter a lot! ****Thanks again for reading the story!**

**m- Heyy, I'm sorry I've been so crap with the updates lately, but like I said I promise I won't be giving up on this story! I'm glad you've stuck with it from the start, and hopefully you like the direction the story is going!**

**Sending all the other replies by PM, so fingers crossed everyone should get one! As a general message, thank you to everyone who reads, reviews, WAITS and enjoys the updates. It means a lot! Any questions and/or requests (such as more Damon/Peyton) about the story, then let me know and I shall try to answer/listen. Thanks everyone! **


	14. I'm all mixed up, confused

**Authors Note: So, I had this chapter written for a while but when I came back to university after the holidays I left my laptop charger at home so I couldn't submit! Just had a quick read through for any errors, so hopefully there aren't loads! I've got exams at the end of May but after that I've finished university for the year so my updates should, (fingers crossed), be a lot more consistent! I hope you enjoy the chapter (and its also a little longer than my usual updates- just couldn't stop writing!) Also don't own OTH or TVD or the song 'It could be you' from Alexz Johnson, whose lyrics I borrowed to name this chapter! :) Now, you can read away...  
**

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She bit her tongue as she felt as though every inch of her body was taken over by a fever; a burning heat rising from deep within her. His hands roamed her body; slowly travelling up the length of her thigh as his lips kissed the nape of her neck with an urgency that could suddenly no longer be controlled. Peyton found her hands reaching for the buttons of his shirt, her fingers feverishly unbuttoning as Damon's free hand, (the hand currently not occupying her upper thigh) began helping her. Before she knew it his shirt was flung off and tossed carelessly aside as her hands began to explore his firm chest as he stopped kissing her and lifted himself up; staring down at her from underneath him. "What's wrong?" She frowned, flustered and confused. He didn't reply, instead his hand slowly stroked her cheek, and before she knew it his lips were on hers and her lips seemingly put up no fight in guarding the entry to her mouth as his tongue wasted no time to slip effortlessly into her mouth. She moaned into his mouth as his hand moved from her thigh and found the small of her back, slowly creeping under her t-shirt. She was beginning to find it increasingly hard to breathe as his lips, much to her dismay, left her own. They soon found her check. And then her ears. And then back to her neck. She needed physical space; she felt as if her body was on fire and Damon was hitting every single spot that could cause her maximum pleasure. She needed… space, but all that came out her mouth was a low moan, as she called out his name.

Her eyes snapped open as she heard a ringing sound, "Can you hear that?"

"I didn't hear anything." Damon said, never pausing as his lips never left her neck as his hand occupying her lower back applied pressure arching her chest against his. She could feel every part of his body against hers and she was suddenly wondering why it hadn't always been like this; why she had been fighting this.

Then the ringing came again, louder this time, and she groaned in equal parts frustration and pleasure, she sighed "Damon, I think its-"

She awoke with a sudden jolt, snapping out bed. She threw the bedcovers off her body as she felt her body already feel the cool air against her flushed skin and turned her head to the cause of her premature awakening; her mobile phone still ringing from her bedside cabinet. Reluctantly she reached for it, ready to hit 'ignore' until she saw the caller ID.

"Nate."

"Hey Sawyer." Came the chipper reply across the phone.

"What's up?" She replied groggily, cursing as she tripped her way out of her bed and slowly walked to the bathroom to splash some water on her face in an attempt to wake herself up.

"God… I forgot how much of a late sleeper you were! I wake you?"

"Sorry not everyone gets up at 6am to do morning workouts."

"I also forgot how bitchy you are when you get woken up." He laughed, recalling how when they used to date she wouldn't talk to him for the rest of the day if he woke up her up before 12pm on weekends.

"Did this phone call have a point?"

"Yeah, sorry. I was just wondering where you are right now." He asked, instantly making her suspicious. "It's just I was playing in the River Court this morning and I swear to God I saw your Comet. You haven't come back again without telling me, have you?"

"Nope, I'm in Mystic Falls." She yawned, as she walked into the kitchen to make a coffee.

"Good, because next time you're in town, I expect to be told and not have to track you down to spend time with you."

"Nathan, I'm not-" She began when there was suddenly a knock on her front door. Caroline? But she swore Caroline spent the night at Matt's last night. "Give me a second- there's someone at the door." She left her bedroom and walked across the length of the flat, phone balanced between her head and her shoulder as both hands wrestled with the lock.

"Nate!" She cried as she opened the door to reveal the raven haired friend from Tree Hill. In her excitement, she dropped her phone, flying into the arms of her friend, "Hey, Sawyer! You missed me?"

…

"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were coming?" She asked once she had finally detached herself from her friend and they were sat down in her apartment.

"I wanted to surprise you." He shrugged.

"How long are you here for?"

"God, I've only been here two minutes and you already want to know when I'm leaving." He laughed. "Hales is out of town visiting her mom and dad at Taylor's new place, so I figured I'd come hang with you for the weekend."

"Oh my god, that's so great! So what place did you book to stay for the weekend?"

Nathan stared at her, dumbfounded, watching as a smirk grew on her face. "Ah," He exhaled sharply, "I've missed that trademark Peyton Sawyer sarcasm."

"I've missed you!" She smiled, so glad that her friend was there in front of her to hug, and talk to, and to just hang out with.

"Glad to hear it. Now, what have you got planned this weekend?"

"Seriously- you want to start now? Can't we have a nice nap together first?" She groaned.

"Peyton! I'm a happily married man!" He exclaimed.

"Oh my god, Nate!" She slapped his chest before taking his hand and pulling him up off the sofa. "Just let me brush my teeth and get ready and then I can show the wonderful sights of Mystic Falls." Mystic Grill or Mystic Bean coffee shop? Oh the sights Mystic Falls had to offer, Peyton thought to herself. Nathan got up and walked over to the kitchen; he figured making her a coffee for when she got out of the bathroom was probably the least he could do. Suddenly he heard a phone ringing, beginning to walk over to his jacket to check if it was his; it was only then that he noticed Peyton's cell phone still on the floor in front of the door. He picked it up to see 'Caroline' ringing. "Hey, Peyt! Your friend Caroline's ringing your cell."

"Just answer it- tell her I'm in the bathroom and I'll ring her back in a sec." Peyton bellowed out from the room.

Nathan flipped the phone open, before he even got a chance to talk, he was taken aback to hear a hyper girl's voice on the other end. "So, yes before you ask, I stayed the night at Matt's last night but he said he wants crappy macho guy time with Tyler today (whatever that means) and you still owe me for the whole blind date fiasco and I _really _want to go to the cinema. I am _not _talking no for an answer-"

"Hey, Caroline?" He interrupted her when he realized that he would otherwise have to wait a while longer before he got a word in.

"You are not Peyton…" She claimed unnecessarily. "And you're not Damon." She continued; if she had to take a bet on what guy would be answering her phone after presumably what would be a sleep over, her money would be on him. "So, hot sounding guy answering Peyton's phone…"

"Who's Damon?" This was certainly one development Peyton had neglected to mention when they spoke on the phone.

"Who are you?" Caroline completely ignored his question.

"I'm a friend of Peyton's from Tree Hill."

"Nathan, right?" Caroline deduced correctly; she knew he was the only one of Peyton's friends from Tree Hill that she was currently speaking to. "She didn't tell me that you were coming to see her."

"Yeah, she didn't know. I wanted to surprise her."

"That's so sweet!" Caroline smiled. "How long are you staying for?"

"Just until Sunday."

"What are you guys doing today?"

"I don't know. Hey Peyton! He began to shout over his shoulder, before he realized it would just be easier to just go to her bedroom. "What's up?" She asked, popping her head out the bathroom door, toothbrush still in her mouth.

"Caroline wants to know what we're doing today."

"Tell her to meet us at the Mystic Grill." Peyton told Nathan as she dried her face and walked to the wardrobe, picking out something to wear. She listened as Nathan said his goodbyes to someone he managed to hold a 5 minute conversation with despite the fact they had never met. Only Caroline…

Once he hung up the phone, Peyton asked "You don't mind I invited her, do you?"

"No, of course not." Nathan shook his head, "I wanted to see the world you have over here- she's a part of your world."

"Yeah. A pretty big part of it…" Peyton smiled, walking back into the bathroom to get changed.

"Hey, Peyton?" Nathan stopped in her tracks, "Who's Damon?" Peyton froze, "Apparently when Caroline thinks some guy's stayed over at yours she automatically thinks its Damon."

"We got a busy day ahead of us Nate, don't want to waste it." She replied hastily, slamming the door shut as her mind replayed images from the all too realistic dream she was trying her hardest to forget.

…

By the time they got to the Mystic Grill Caroline was already there, bubbly as usual and once she had introduced the pair Peyton turned to Nathan. "Do you want to get the drinks in?" Peyton looked at Nathan expectantly.

"See even though it sounds like a question, it's definitely a command." Nathan remarked, but he was already getting up from the table and making his way towards the bar.

Peyton immediately turned to Caroline once Nathan was out of earshot. "He's hot. Shame he's married…"

"And you have a boyfriend…. Anyway I need to tell you something."

"Not too bad from behind either." The blonde titled her head as she watched him stand at the bar.

"Ok, firstly ew! And second, Caroline focus- this is important."

"What's up?" She turned her attention back to Peyton, suddenly concerned.

"I had a dream." She started hesitantly; this was definitely going to be harder telling Caroline than she had anticipated.

"OK, Martin Luther- you want to expand a little?"

"It was a dream… about Damon."

"Okay…" Caroline stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to say something. When she instead began to chew her bottom lip anxiously, Caroline sighed "You're going to have to give me a little more than that, Peyton!"

"It was a sex dream okay!" She exclaimed, reeling as she had finally said it out loud.

Of all the times Caroline would talk without taking breath until Peyton thought she was literally going to pass out and all Caroline could offer to the shocking confession was "Oh."

"'Oh- that's all you have to say. 'Oh!' I just tell you I had a ridiculously hot dream about me and Damon and that's all you've got."

"What do you want me to say?" Caroline asked, flustered.

"That he's a terrible kisser, and so _not_ good at the sex. Just _something_ that makes me stop thinking about him kissing me, and touching me and about my hands all over his body…. Oh my god!" She finished, crying into her arms as she slouched onto the table. "This isn't me, Caroline." She mumbled as she talked into the table and Caroline was forced to lean in to hear what she was saying. Peyton lifted her head up to look at her friend. "I don't have these kinds of dreams. When I want to have sex with somebody I just do it."

"Then just do it!" Caroline replied, as if it was a simple solution. "It's not like Damon going to care whether it's a one time thing or not."

Peyton shook her head, "I can't. I don't just have one night stands. And even if I did… It's not just about the attraction. It wouldn't just be sex. There's too many emotions involved now for it to just be sex."

"From you or from him?" Caroline frowned.

Just as Peyton was about to answer, Nathan returned with drinks in tow. "Yeah its cool- not like I needed help carrying these over or anything."

"I'm sorry!" Caroline jumped up from her seat as she needlessly took the drinks from his hand to simply move them the few inches down to place them on the table. Peyton just shook her head as Nathan stared at her incredulously. "So," Caroline turned to the pair of friends sitting next to each other, "you're the legally emancipated, married one, right?"

"Way to break the ice, Caroline!" Peyton laughed as Nathan just widened his eyes, caught completely off guard by her open attitude.

"Hold on one sec." She smiled as she looked down at her phone, "It's Matt- I'll talk to him and be back in a bit. You guys can catch up."

Peyton rolled her eyes as the blonde slipped out of the booth and flipped open her phone. "She's really uh…." Nathan cleared his throat.

"Yeah you get used to it. So, how is Haley doing?" Peyton asked, though she already knew the answer. Since she had accidentally bumped into Nathan in Tree Hill when she went to sign over the papers for the house, Nathan and her had spoken on the phone almost every day, and if not, they text each other back and forth. Occasionally Nathan would slip in information about Lucas and Brooke; nothing much, just mentioning how Brooke was doing with Clothes over Bros and how Lucas seemed to finally be getting to terms with Keith's death.

"She's good; she's been helping Karen out with Tric and booking performers. But I came here to spend time with you- tell me about your life, your friends."

"Well, you've already met Caroline." Peyton smiled as Nathan nodded his head. "Then there's Tyler."

"Tyler sounds like a guy's name." Nathan smirked.

"That's because it is?"

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"Nate, you sound like you're nine years old. No he's not my boyfriend. My relationship with him is kind of like my one with you."

"You went out for two years, had great sex, but realized that he treated you like a jackass and that you were better off friends?"

"OK, so it's nothing like us two then- but we are just really good friends."

"Your dad come up to visit you yet?"

Peyton shook her head, sadly looking down at the table. "I've spoken to him on the phone a couple of times. And my history teacher who he's never mentioned to me before is apparently good friends with him ran into him before he moved here and gave me an art set that he had got for me."

"But it's not the same." Nathan finished for her, knowingly.

"Yeah…" She whispered, "It's just hard, you know? I mean, it was bad enough in Tree Hill and that was when I had you and Haley, Lucas and Brooke." She cleared her throat; no way was she getting into that whole drama right now. "I feel like I'm seeing him less and less and the phone calls are getting shorter and shorter." She explained.

"I know broken families and missing parents is kind of the Tree Hill MO but it doesn't have to be like that for you. You wouldn't be an unreasonable daughter by asking him to stay."

"And give up something he loves? You know how it is; Dan practically pushed you to do basketball- imagine if he was asking you to give that up."

"That's not the same thing." Nathan shook his head.

"Isn't it?" Peyton laughed, though her eyes were full of sadness. "I can't do it to him, Nate. I won't." She shook her head resolutely.

"OK, I get it." Nathan understood, and reluctantly decided to drop the subject. He just didn't want her to be alone. He was sure that she had made good friends here, but as the infamous drawing said, 'people always leave'; and he knew she still truly believed that. When Haley left to tour last year, Peyton had been the one to be there for him; to get through to him. And now she was alone, granted by her own choice, and no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't return the favour and be there for her. Not in the same way anyway.

So, though he had come to see Peyton and acquaint himself with her new life, his visit had an ulterior motive; he wanted to make sure that she was happy here, or that she could be happy here.

"So, you want to get something to eat?" He changed the subject.

Peyton nodded her head as she picked up a menu from the table, "Want to split a pizza?"

"Sure… Should we get something for Caroline?" He asked as he looked around the room, trying to locate the blonde who had disappeared to talk to, who he assumed to be her boyfriend.

"Yeah, just get a couple of baskets of fries and another pizza." Peyton reached into her bag and got out her purse.

Nathan automatically pushed her hand away, "It's on me. Consider it me making up for all the times you used to shout me pizzas and was the designated driver for my drunken ass when we used to date."

"Aw, Nathan…" She began as he expected a thanks, only slightly surprised when she continued, "It's going to take a lot more pizza's than this to make up for how many times I'd pay for you on dates."

"You're welcome." He rolled his eyes as he walked in the direction of the bar.

Moments after Nathan had left the table she was joined by yet another friend. Though she wasn't so sure she could consider him a friend after last night… "Damon."

"So, guess who had the pleasure of walking in on his baby bro getting busy with Elena this morning." Damon shuddered visibly as he relived the moment. Never had he been caught more off guard or visibly scarred; and this was coming from someone who had spent 145 years as a vampire. "If only it were possible to un-see something…" He lamented aloud.

"I know what you mean. I'm beginning to wish more and more every day that I could un-meet you." Peyton offered fake sympathy, all the while telling herself that this was not a big deal. He did _not _look attractive today. She was definitely _not _thinking about how she wanted that dream to be real. It's not like every time she looked at him she was thinking of him shirtless...

"You okay?" Damon frowned, "You seem a little... distracted."

"I'm fine." Peyton shook her head vehemently. She wasn't going to that place. _No way. _

"Okay…" Damon replied, unconvinced. "So you managed to get in touch with him?"

"Who?" Surely she didn't just blank out an entire conversation.

"Your dad- last time we spoke, you said you kept going straight through to voicemail."

"Oh, yeah- he rang at like 3am and left me a voicemail saying that he was really busy with work and he would ring to talk properly as soon as he could." Peyton sighed as she started making shapes out of the spilt salt on the table.

"He probably just loses track of time out on those dredging boats…. You know what they say about people being out at sea."

"No, what do they say?" Peyton asked, perplexed.

"I have no idea, but I'm sure they say something about being at sea and time moving faster." He offered at the top of his head. It was of course a lie; he had no idea about what was said about people being at sea but he definitely just made that up to make her feel better, as he reasoned that her missing her dad was probably the reason that she seemed so off.

"Ignoring the fact that you so obviously made that up- thanks." Damon smiled as he saw her smirk slightly for the first time since he had sat down at the table.

"Hey." Damon followed Peyton's eyeline to see a raven-haired, scrawny looking (ok, not that scrawny but Damon still didn't like the look of him) teen staring at the pair with curiosity. Damon also didn't like the way Peyton jumped from her seat and her smile grow tenfold as she stared at the boy. After what seemed like a lifetime, she finally introduced him. "Nathan this is Damon. Damon- this is one of my friends from Tree Hill, Nate."

"Hey, man, nice to meet you." Nathan held out his hand politely as Damon took it suspiciously, replying "Likewise," though his face clearly told a different story.

"Damon…" Nathan said, more to himself than anyone else as he suddenly remembered Caroline had mentioned him briefly on the phone. "So, how do you two know each other?"

.

"I'm friends with Stefan- his younger brother." Peyton answered simply as Damon raised a brow at her; they both knew that he was more than just 'Stefan's brother' to her, but she reasoned with herself that explaining everything to Nathan right there and then just wasn't appropriate. And thankfully, Damon didn't mention anything of it.

"That's how you two met?" Luckily before either of them could answer Nathan's next question, Caroline returned. "Damon, how long have you been here?"

"Not long, I should go- let you two catch up." Damon replied, getting up to leave.

"No! You should stay."

"He should?" Peyton and Caroline exclaimed simultaneously, staring at Nathan as if he had just suddenly grown two heads.

"Yeah, to be honest I'm feeling a little outnumbered."

"Like you've ever complained before…" Peyton murmured under her breath causing Nathan to nudge in her response.

"Married man now, Sawyer."

"You're married? What are you- 12?" Damon couldn't help but blurt out.

Peyton shot Damon daggers; was there any reason he was being more of a dick today than normal? But Nathan didn't seem to take offence, laughing instead. "Not quite; I'm 18. I've been married almost 2 years now."

"Since you were 16- are you kidding me? What possessed you to get married? And at 16 as well- at least live your life a little before you enter into the last legal form of slavery that's managed to slip through the cracks." Damon said, doing nothing to hide his feelings on the topic.

"God, I forget how much of a romantic you are at heart." Peyton commented sarcastically.

"Sorry I want to live my life a little. No offence." He turned to Nathan, though it really didn't bother him in the slightest if he was offended.

"Hey, it's cool!" Nathan shook his head, clearly unaffected. "I mean it wasn't really that much of a difficult decision. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Hales… I didn't want to waste any time." He said with a simplicity that couldn't be argued as Caroline aw'd from where she stood. It's not like Damon had a comeback; that was exactly how he felt about Katherine not too long ago. "Besides," Nathan continued, "I did the whole messing a girl around and being a player with this one." Nathan gestured to Peyton. "I was a dick to her. My brother treated her _way _better than I ever did and he wasn't the one that was even going out with her."

Suddenly Damon recognized the story. "You're _that_ Nathan… Lucas is your brother." He said, more to himself than anyone seated round the table.

"Yeah." Nathan nodded his head as he finished the story, "anyway, she dumped me. She says it wasn't because of Lucas, but I'm not so sure. I met Hales. Her and my brother tried to make a go of it but…"

"Things change." Peyton finished for him; he really didn't need to finish the story; she had already told both Caroline and Damon and both of them seemed to understand she didn't want to talk about it as they simply nodded and didn't question the subject.

"So, how long did you and Peyton go out for?" Caroline asked, piquing Damon's interest.

"On and off- I guess for about two years." Peyton had mentioned Nathan to Damon and how madly in love he was with his wife but he still didn't trust the guy. He felt his fist clench as Nathan put him arm around the back of Peyton's seat. There was clearly something off about the guy.

"Longest two years of my life." Peyton muttered under her breath.

"Hey, you hardly would've won girlfriend of the year award either." Nathan folded his arms across his chest as he continued defensively, "You were a bitch for like half of our relationship."

"Only because you were such a dick." Peyton countered.

"And your dad absolutely hated me." Nathan continued.

"Because you treated me terribly!"

"Well…" Nathan began, soon realizing he didn't have an argument, he gave in. "OK, fine… Yeah, we're much better off as just friends. Sorry- you must think we're being rude." Nathan turned to Caroline and Damon who were sat opposite them, noticing considerable distance between the pair.

"Not at all," Caroline shook her head, "it's cute seeing Peyton with an old friend." Nathan furrowed his brows as he fought back the feeling of sadness at being referred to as an 'old friend'. He knew that she had made new friends her and had settled down and he was happy for her. But, in the back of his mind, he always thought that she would eventually come back to Tree Hill. She would finally come home for good.

Before he had time to dwell on it any further, Damon chipped in "Yeah, it's nice to know that she's a bitch to everyone and not just me."

"Is there any reason you're being more of a douche today than normal?" Peyton tilted her head and stared at him with a look of mild irritation.

"Douche is just my default setting." He lifted his hands up casually.

"Well, at least we agree on something…" Caroline muttered.

"Guy's, lay off double teaming him- I feel sorry for the guy!" Nathan laughed, as Damon fought back the urge to tell him he didn't need his pity. Before anyone could reply the waiter arrived with the food. "Oh Damon, you're going to eat with us, right? You're not busy or anything?"

Damon opened his mouth to answer but Peyton got in there before him, "Please… I can't remember the last time I saw him and he wasn't at the bar with a drink in hand." She scoffed, before realizing she had inadvertently taken away his only option of leaving.

"Guess that means you're staying." Nathan shrugged as he took a slice of pizza of the plate, now grateful he had ordered two large pizzas. "So what is it that you do then?"

Damon reluctantly leaned back in his seat; this really wasn't how he envisioned his day- on a double date with his ex, Peyton and Peyton's ex. "Not a lot… Peyton pretty much summed up every day of my life…. I'm on the founder's council- I'm one of the founding families." He finally conjured up, determined that he wouldn't sound as pathetic as some aimless drunk.

"What does that mean?" Nathan was completely perplexed; Tree Hill really didn't have founding families or a founder's council.

"It's just a council that organizes town events, tries to preserve the history of the town, makes sure the town is kept safe." Damon listed off the different role of council, though truth be told he was only involved in the safety aspect. In particular, the vampire problems that he and Stefan were still no closer to solving.

"What kind of safety does a town like this even need?" Nathan asked innocently.

Damon couldn't help but laugh, "Animal attacks are quite common around here actually."

Nathan widened his eyes in shock, "You never told me any of that when we talk."

"Please, like it's much safer in Tree Hill with the car crashes and bullet wounds."

"Bullet wounds." Caroline choked on her food. "Who was shot?"

"Me-I got shot last year." Peyton said, realizing she had never told Caroline about it.

"What? Geez, Peyton, first shot, then stabbed…" Caroline remarked, which in turn caused Nathan to splutter on his drink.

"Stabbed?" He turned to Peyton, "When the hell did that happen?"

"Its no big deal," Peyton waved her hand away a little casually for someone that had two near death experiences in the space of a few short months. "Some psycho attacked me."

"That's not true." Damon piped in from where he was sat as he stared intently at Peyton as she was leaving out a very important part of the story. Nathan simply stared between the two, completely lost, "What do you mean?"

"The guy- his name was Logan Fell, was after me. And Peyton saved me. She saw what he was going to do and she jumped in front of me." He retold the story as his eyes never left hers.

"You're making it sound way more heroic than it actually was." Peyton replied, unwilling and unable to just take the thanks that he only now realized he had never properly given her.

"You saved my life. That's pretty heroic."

"Yeah, well you didn't leave my side for the rest of the night." Peyton replied quietly as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"I figured it was the least I could do." Damon shrugged his shoulders, realizing that having this conversation in front of company probably wasn't the best idea. So, he cleared his throat, as he attempted to change conversation, "Of course, knowing your luck we will probably be even by next week by pushing you out of the way of lightening that's about to strike you in some freak accident."

"Aren't lightening attacks meant to be really rare- like one in million?" Caroline wondered aloud.

"Ignoring the fact that you just called them lightening attacks, I think they are a lot rarer than that." Damon replied.

"Are they as rare as how often, say… you're actually nice to someone?" Caroline glared at him.

"No, they are definitely more common than that…" Peyton added, as Damon narrowed his eyes at her. She simply shrugged, "It was too easy..."

Before Damon could respond, he heard his ringtone go off in pocket. He took it out, excusing himself from the table, "Hey Liz- don't tell me; another body's turned up?" Damon asked, already fearing the worst.

"No, the opposite actually. There haven't been any more bodies showing up."

"But it's only been a couple of days." Damon reasoned. "Whoever it is could just be feeding and compelling- they're probably being careful."

"Yes but without any bodies, as terrible as it sounds, we don't have any fresh leads." Liz sighed; he could almost see the stress lines appear on her face.

"Liz, we'll figure something out… We always do." He reassured her.

"Yeah, you're right- its just Mayor Lockwood is pressuring me to fix this problem."

"Mayor Lockwood isn't the one that's doing the hunting and killing."

"He just wants the town to finally be rid of vampires- who can blame him? It's what we all want."

After a moments pause Damon agreed. "Right…"

"By the way, have you seen Caroline lately?

"Yeah, she's with me right now- you want to talk to her?"

"No, its fine- I've just been spending most my nights at the station and I haven't seen her in a while." Liz explained.

"You sure you don't want to talk to her?"

"No, its fine. I should leave you to it."

"OK- I'll stop by your office tomorrow, see if we can find anything new." Damon offered.

Just as he was about to hang up the phone he heard her call him, "And Damon- thank you. I don't know what I would do without you." Damon nodded his head despite the fact she couldn't see him and hung up the phone.

By the time he got back to the table they were seated at the girls were nowhere to be found and Nathan was sat eating. "Hey man- the girls wanted to play pool. I said we'd join them once you got back." He explained as Damon sat back down in the opposing chair.

"Great." Was the less than enthusiastic reply that came from his mouth as he starting eating the fries from the basket that had just arrived. "How long are you staying in Mystic Falls then?"

"Just a couple of days- I wanted to see Peyton. Last time I saw her was when she came back to Tree Hill and even then it was only for a couple of hours. And I'm kind of finally coming to terms with the fact that she isn't coming back home- at least not for a while."

"It's hard for her, given the situation." Damon shrugged.

"Given the situation?" Nathan questioned, raising his eyebrows at Damon. "She told you why she left." He stared at the older guy incredulously, feeling slightly hurt that Peyton was able to confide in a practical stranger over someone she had known more or less her entire life.

"Yeah," Damon scoffed before staring at Nathan, "and judging by the look on your face, you don't know. Nice job, Damon." He muttered to himself.

"I mean- I kind of assumed it's about Lucas and Brooke." Nathan replied as he leaned back in his seat, trying to hide the look of disappointment on his face.

"I don't think it's just them. I mean, she's been through a lot this last year. I think she just needed a fresh start; some place new." Damon said, suddenly feeling sorry for the guy.

"I get it. I just… I wish she'd have come to me." Nathan sighed.

"That's just who she is." Damon shrugged his shoulders, "She's guarded and stubborn. She'd rather deal with her problems by herself than actually open up and tell someone and make herself vulnerable to them. It's the only way she knows how to be."

Nathan listened to Damon's words and nodded his head slowly as Damon turned in the direction of the pool table to stare at Peyton, his emotive expression unreadable by Nathan. "The only person that I think that's ever managed to break through the walls she's put up is Lucas." Nathan was completely oblivious at Damon's obvious wince at Lucas' name. "Yeah he's definitely gotten to her." Damon replied honestly, his voice tinged with a sombre tone.

….

"Peyton, you seriously need to chill!" Caroline told her friend as she started stacking balls up to play. "You can't control your dreams. I mean, I've had hot dreams about him since we stopped seeing each other." She admitted.

"I know. But it's not just that. I think…" She chewed her bottom lip as she tried to finally admit out loud what she had feared yet known for quite some time, "… I have feelings for him; like emotional, more than just-a-friend feelings for him. And he's not just an asshole. I _wish _he was so it would make this all so much easier."

Caroline walked over to her friend who was resting against the pool table, and put a hand on her shoulder. "You also can't control who you have feelings for."

"I know that too." She exhaled, her voice quivering slightly.

"So, you guys ready to play?" Their heads turned in unison to Nathan who was standing next to Damon. Peyton quickly plastered a smile on her face as Caroline squeezed her arm supportively. "Sure- boys versus girls?"

"I was kind of thinking Tree Hill versus Mystic Falls." Nathan grinned at Peyton, who nodded her head in agreement, picking up a pool cue as Caroline set up to break.

Damon walked over to where Peyton was standing, picking out the last remaining two cues for himself and Nathan. He leaned in to Peyton, whispering in her ear as his other hand found the small of her back, "You okay?"

Peyton nodded her head as she quickly detached herself from his hold, as she felt every cell of her body come to life like it never had before. "I'm fine." Was the soft reply that came from her lips before she went to stand by Nathan, figuring that distance was the safest bet right now.

….

A couple of hours of playing and Peyton completely forgot her troubles. They had lost track of how many games they had played or of who was in the lead as Nathan and Peyton tried to avoid breaking down into fits of laughter at how every shot made from Damon or Caroline would cause an argument to ensue between the pair. "What the hell is wrong with you- do you have absolutely no sense of direction?" Caroline screeched at Damon as he failed to pot a ball.

"Says the girl that hits the white ball into the hole in the last game!" Damon shouted back.

"Please! Like you would've potted that red either!" Caroline scoffed.

"It was an open shot!" His voice was a decibel higher as he struck out his hands in frustration.

"Whatever… Jerk!" Caroline huffed as she folded her arms across her chest.

Peyton leaned across to Nathan, muttering "Yeah, in retrospect we probably shouldn't have put the two of them on the same team."

"Are you kidding? This is the best game of pool I've ever played!" Nathan laughed as he watched Caroline hit Damon with the pool cue in an attempt to get him to move out of her way.

A waiter approached the foursome, holding a tray of drinks in his hands as he informed them, "Guys we're closing up." Peyton looked around and realized that everybody else had already left without her even noticing. "Ahh, I was having so much fun." Nathan calmed himself down, as finally stopped laughing, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "Caroline did you bring your car?" Peyton asked as she put on her jacket and the four of them left their cues and walked out of the bar.

"No- it's still in garage. Why?"

"We walked too- Nathan insisted on seeing the sights of Mystic Falls." Peyton explained as she looked at him as if he was an idiot.

Damon laughed, "The only sight this town has to offer is the new Starbucks opening on Maine Street."

"Yeah, well how was I meant to know how boring this town is?" Nathan exclaimed defensively, causing the other three to laugh as they began walking down the street. Peyton turned to Damon, "You didn't drive here either?"

"I left my car at the sheriff's office, but she wasn't in. I figured I'd walk into town, kill some time and then go to see if Liz was back." Damon explained.

"The sheriff- you got a problem with the law that I don't know about?" Nathan joked.

"No… Well, not yet anyway." There was still time, Damon thought to himself as he smiled inwardly. Peyton rolled her eyes at his optimistic tone, "Well me and Nathan can walk you two the sheriffs station and walk back from there."

"No, don't. I'll drop you off." Damon replied quickly before turning to Caroline, extending the offer, "all of you."

"You don't have to do that." Peyton replied.

"It's not an offer, I'm insisting." Damon told her, only expanding when she glanced at him with suspicion, "I'm not having it on my conscience if you all get robbed because I let you walk home at half eleven when I could have given you a lift."

"Ha! Like you have a conscience." Peyton joked as the pair walked side by side and Nathan and Caroline fell behind them, walking at a slower pace.

"I resent that comment, Ms. Sawyer." He clutched his chest as he feigned offence.

"I'm sure people have said _a lot_ worse about you."

"Well, it's less about what the person says and more who it is that's saying it.", came Damon's effortless reply as Peyton turned to him with lips that conveyed surprise whilst her eyes softened slightly at his words.

"God, Damon." She punched him, not so lightly, in his arm.

"What the hell was that for?" He exclaimed, rubbing his arm.

"Why is it that every time I think I've got you figured out- you say something like that."

"Sorry for not being predictable." He mumbled.

"How about just being sorry for being an obnoxious dick one minute and then a decent human being the next? It gets confusing."

"Who was I a dick to?"

"Nathan." Peyton looked at him accusingly.

"I like Nathan," Damon countered, "and that's coming from someone who makes pretty harsh judgements of people they've just met."

"How harsh was your first impression of me?"

"Peyton, I spent the entirety of my Friday night trying to get you to tell me your name… What do you think?" He threw her a sideways glance and was pleasantly surprise at the coy smile she tried to hide on her face by burying her head in her jacket.

"Flattery will get you absolutely everywhere, Mr. Salvatore."

"Everywhere, huh?" He asked as his eyes roamed across her body. "You could've told me that when I met you- would've saved me a lot of time."

"Where's the fun in that?" She asked as a mischievous grin played across her face. "Besides," She continued, "let's be honest Damon- do you really think you would've looked twice at me if I invited you back to mine that first night we met?"

"Wait a second- let me just get over the really hot visuals I'm getting right now." Damon closed his eyes, completely unsurprised when she slapped him again. "Enough with the abuse!" He laughed, as they continued to walk down the road; to a stranger, they would seem like any other couple.

…..

"So what's the deal with the two of them?" Nathan gestured at the two walking in front of them.

"What's Peyton told you?"

Nothing. That they're just-"

"Friends." Caroline finished for him.

"Is that not the truth?"

"I think that's what she wants to believe. It's easier than dealing with the fact that he could be someone more than just a friend to her." Caroline sighed.

"And he wants to be more than that?" Nathan assumed.

"I think a part of her does too- she's just… scared."

"Same story, different town." Nathan laughed at the irony as he noticed the blonde walking beside him shiver slightly, only then realizing how thin the material of her clothing was. Without hesitation, he took his jacket of and offered it to her as she smiled, taking it appreciatively. "Is he a good guy?" Nathan asked, suddenly feeling very protective.

Caroline smiled, "Oh I am _so _not the right person to ask that question to. Me and Damon have kind of an ugly history."

"Ah…" Nathan nodded his head in understanding.

"Though honestly…" Caroline began again, "I don't think many people have a very popular opinion of him."

Nathan sighed, not exactly happy with what he had just been told. With her dad absent, it was normally his older brother's job to vet the guys that Peyton was seeing to make sure that they were good enough for her. Him and Peyton had the more flirty, playful but in a completely platonic way type of relationship. But for whatever reason Lucas was no longer in Peyton's contacts list and he felt the need to step up and adopt the protective older brother role in her life. And unfortunately he wasn't always going to be around to make sure she didn't get screwed over.

"For what its worth," The blonde interrupted the pensive teen, "I think he's different with her. He makes sure she gets home okay after late nights; he lets her shout at him when normally he wouldn't take that kind of crap off _anybody_; he can tell when she's upset and he's there for her; and more importantly, she lets him be there for her. It's like she makes him almost… decent. But like I said, I'm not the best person to ask- you're better off asking one of them. Then again, it would be pretty hard to get a straight answer out of either of them…"

…

"At least you've finally stopped acting like biazzro Peyton." Damon said as they continue to saunter down the street.

"What do you mean?" Peyton asked, confused.

"You've been acting strange all of today."

"I'm sorry… It's just been a weird morning."

"See," Damon stuck out his hands as if to prove his point, "you apologizing- bizarre!"

"Ok… Jackass- better?"

"A lot better, as a matter fact." He replied truthfully. "I've had enough weird experiences today without you actually being nice to me to add to the list."

Peyton thought for a second before exhaling sharply, as she remembered "Ah- Stefan and Elena having sex. Pick up any useful tips, douche bag?"

"OK- you don't need to overdo it with the names; it was merely an observation. And the second I go to my brother for any kind of advice; least of all sex, please feel free to check me into a mental institute."

"You know you and Nate have a lot more in common that you'd think."

"The kid that got married at 16!" He looked at her as if she needed to be checked into a mental institute, "Yeah, you might want to work on that theory."

Peyton rolled her eyes as she continued, "He hated Lucas at first too."

"But I don't even know Lucas." Damon played dumb; (even though there may be a small part of him that hated Lucas- like he needed to meet the guy to know him!).

"I meant Stefan." She pursed her lips.

"Nathan's never met Stefan." Damon continued.

"Damon!" She screamed shrilly at him.

"Now, that definitely doesn't make sense…" He trailed off, hiding the mischievous grin on his face, hiding how amused he was at how much he had just riled her up.

"What I meant…" She sighed deeply, "… is that Nathan, like you, didn't get on well with his brother at first either."

"Oh, I see. Did they fall in love with the same girl too?"

"No, but-"

"Then it's really not the same." Damon interjected abruptly.

"You are impossible to have a conversation with sometimes, you know that?" She huffed moodily.

"And yet you still try." Damon smiled as they both knew she had nothing she could say to that. "I guess you at least have Nathan to talk to now- probably easier conversation."

"It is." Peyton replied with less enthusiasm than Damon had been expecting.

"Gee, don't sound too excited- you might make a guy jealous." Was his sarcastic reply.

"I'm glad he's here- I don't want to sound like ungrateful bitch."

"But…" Damon sensed there was more to it than she was letting on.

"But it just sucks that he has to go. And it sucks that I can't remember the last time that I've had a conversation with my dad that hasn't lasted more than one minute. And it sucks that I know when Nathan leaves I'll have nobody again."

"Are you blind?" He widened his eyes at her, cocking his head to look at her, "When Nathan still leaves, you'll still have Caroline and that bratty high school kid," At Peyton's confused look Damon started again "the cocky mayor's son? I also happen to know that my brother thinks very highly of you. And… I don't think you're too unbearable either when you're not PMS'ing." He finished almost shyly.

"Damon, that was beautiful." Came the faked emotional response as she choked back an imaginary tear.

"I'm being serious. You won't be alone. For a start, Caroline physically _would_ _not_ _let you_… And for that matter, neither would I." He finished as they reached the door of his car and he swung it open for her.

Peyton slowly nodded her head and got in the car as they couldn't discuss the topic any further as Nathan and Caroline had finally caught up with the pair in front of them, reaching his car still parked outside the sheriff's office. Caroline paused and stared at the backseat door that Damon was still holding open before looking around anxiously. "Your mom's car isn't here- I already checked." Damon told her.

"That's fine, I can just walk back."

"If it helps I'll drop you off first." He offered; he wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect either, but they had already managed a whole day together without either killing the other; what was an extra 10 minutes? And more importantly, there was a still dangerous vampire on the loose who had gone eerily quiet since its first kill. When he saw her still hesitant expression he rolled his eyes, "Get in the car, Barbie!" Reluctantly, she walked past him and sat in the car with Peyton as he swiftly shut the door behind them. He looked at Nathan just standing there, waiting expectantly, "What- you want me to open the door for you too, princess?"

"I was kind of counting on it, yeah!" Nathan exclaimed as Damon grinned in spite of himself and opened the front passenger door for him. He chuckled as he heard Nathan give an indignant "about time!" as he walked around the front of the car to the driver's seat.

Aside from Peyton readjusting the radio in his car after initial arguments on Damon's part, the drive back was relatively drama- free. Damon first dropped Caroline off, as promised so as to avoid the two of them stuck in his car with nothing to fill the time but awkward silence. By the time the tires screeched to a halt outside Peyton's apartment block it had already passed midnight. "Thanks for the ride man." Nathan jumped out of the car as Peyton slowly slid across the seat, following her friend's lead. She walked over to the opened passenger seat window, leaning in, "I'll see you around… probably the next time I'm at a place that supplies bourbon."

"Without a doubt. And don't do anything I wouldn't do; he is, after all, a married man, Ms. Sawyer." He gave her a stern glance which she shrugged off with a smile and a shake of her head as she watched him speed off down the street.

…

Nathan shifted uncomfortably from side to side as he tried to find an agreeable sleeping position, "Could you be any louder!" Peyton groaned, unable to sleep due to his fidgeting from one position to another.

"I'm not used to sleeping in a different bed!" Nathan exclaimed defensively.

"Well get over it already and stay still!" Peyton said, her voice lacking anything resembling any emotion even close to sympathy.

"So, Peyton…" Nathan said, as he turned to lie on his back, staring at the darkness above him, "… has anyone else stayed the night in this bed."

"You really need to work on your subtlety, dude."

"Whatever… Well?" He asked again when she neglected to answer the question.

"Oh my god- no Nate!"

"Huh. OK, I believe you." Came the less than convincing reply

"What's that supposed to mean?" Peyton narrowed her eyes, unsure where this was leading.

"Nothing, calm down! Geez, Sawyer!" Nathan inhaled sharply. "We got to talk about your paranoia issues."

"I thought we were talking about my love life." Peyton sighed.

"Aha!" Nathan exclaimed as if he had just had a breakthrough, "So you admit you do have a love life."

"Oh my god Nate, give it up!" She groaned into her pillow. "Why the sudden interest?"

"Because I want to make sure that you don't get screwed over or get your heart broken."

"It's too late for that." Peyton replied sadly.

"Is this about Lucas?" Nathan asked though he didn't really need an answer, and wasn't surprised when he didn't receive one.

"He hasn't forgotten you, Peyton. I don't know if that's what you thought moving here would do but if it was, it hasn't worked. He's been trying to get through to your dad; he makes us run past your house every morning when we do our basketball trainings together. He's still looking for you." Nathan exhaled deeply when she remained silent; deciding that he wasn't going to press the subject. Not too long after, he drifted off to sleep oblivious to the tears that were silently making their way down his friend's cheek.

Her conflicted feelings tore her apart as she considered that whilst she may have woken up to confused, emotionally charged feelings about Damon that she still wasn't prepared to fully admit to, that night she fell into a light sleep thinking only about Lucas.

* * *

**Author's Note: So I know the dream at the beginning may have been a little mean but it may be a while longer before there are real non-dreams like that in the fic! Hope how you liked Nathan's interaction with Caroline and Damon. I could kind of imagine Damon being jealous of Nathan to begin with, then eventually warming to him (at least in my head where this fic actually happens- oh what I would do for Damon and Peyton to actually react on TV together...) Also just wanted to give a quick shout out to SilviaPeyton- absolutely LOVE photosets and as long as you keep making them, I don't think I will ever not like them. Thank you!**  
**And again, thanks to everyone that reviews and reads my story and reviews are always welcome! Will respond to reviews either next chapter or the one after! Thanks everyone!**


	15. We float through each other's lives

**Author's Note: Hope you enjoy the new chapter; I don't own OTH, TVD, any of the characters or the song Ships by Umbrellas (a lyric from that song is the title of the chapter). Read away... (Also big thanks to everyone that wished me luck on my exams :) ...)**

* * *

An outstretched arm crossed the length of the bed, frowning when she realized it was empty, Peyton wearily opened her eyes just a crack. When her suspicions were confirmed and she found Nathan was nowhere to be seen, she reluctantly dragged herself out of bed and walked towards the living area, completely unsurprised to see Nathan already wide awake and making breakfast.

"I guess I should be grateful you didn't set an alarm and wake me up." Peyton yawned as she propped herself onto the kitchen worktop and took a glass of orange juice that Nathan offered her.

"Like you would even wake up to it." Nathan scoffed. Well he was probably right, Peyton agreed, after deciding her indignation would be wasted.

"So, your last day here- anything you want to do?" Peyton asked as she watched Nathan pour the contents of an omelette into a frying pan.

"I figured we could go for a walk, just talk." Nathan suggested as he shook the contents of the pan, allowing the uncooked side exposure to the heat of the gas.

"Why do those words scare me?" Peyton narrowed her eyes with a look of wary suspicion painted across her face.

"It's just a talk, not a walk to the death."

"One and the same, Scott." She replied as she jumped off the counter top and went to her room to get changed for this ominous 'talk.'

...

She didn't know how they got there, but they soon found themselves in the forest near the Lockwood estate. The trees towered overhead, tall and imposing, blocking out the little sunlight the day had to offer. They walked along the forged out path as Peyton tried to figure out why she was so nervous; it might've had something to do with the fact that if he brought up Lucas again she couldn't simply pretend she was sleeping this time.

When he finally did speak, what came from his mouth was nothing Peyton had expected, "remember when we first started dating?" He didn't wait for a response before he continued, "… and about five months in, we had our first break up."

"One of many." Peyton interjected.

Nathan nodded his head in agreement, "And I was so scared I'd lost you, I came by literally two hours later to tell you I was an idiot and I wanted you back. Do you remember what you said to me?" Peyton shook her head; truth be told, they had broken and made up too many times for her to truly remember any of them well. It was always the same story though; they fought, he left, she would get pissed off, he would come back and apologize and then she took him back. "You said something to me that I still haven't forgotten… If you want a girl that calls you when she's upset and trusts you enough to let you see her cry, or can let her guard down and truly be happy with you, then walk away. Because I'm not going to be that girl. I never will be." He paused, biting down on his lip as he stared at her confused face. "I think that's part of the reason I screwed you around so much, and cheated on you (well that and because I was a dick). It was because I knew you never expected anything from me; you never really trusted me so it didn't matter if I screwed you over, you couldn't truly get upset." He explained as he exhaled. He stopped dead still in the thick of the forest, causing her to almost tumble into him as she abruptly halted alongside him. "I get why you think you can never be that girl, Peyton, I do. But one day, you're going to have to just take a leap of faith and let down your walls. Whether that's with me, or Lucas, Caroline… or Damon." The last name made Peyton frown, staring at Nathan in surprise, to which he replied "I'm not an idiot, Peyton." He sighed, "You can't hide away forever. One of these days, you're going to have to be vulnerable to someone and pray to god you've chosen the right person to be vulnerable to."

"I don't know if I can." Peyton shook her head with uncertainty.

"I do." Her friend replied without a moment's hesitation. He wrapped an arm around her as they continued the slow pace they were taking across the length of the forest.

By the time they had reached the clearing, Peyton's cell phone began to ring from her bag. She reached down, fishing out her phone, "its Caroline- she's asking if you want to have dinner at hers tonight before you go." Nathan nodded his head, "Sure, ask if it's OK if we invite Damon." Peyton's forehead wrinkled in confusion, but asked nonetheless "Did you hear that?" She laughed at something Caroline said and said goodbye before turning to Nathan, "She said its fine. But you better not turn into Cupid matchmaker tonight." She glared at him threateningly.

...

"You go, I'll wait in the car."

"Of course you will…" So it was already beginning, she thought to herself as she climbed out and slowly took the steps up the Salvatore boarding house two at a time, hoping beyond hope that he wasn't in. However, when the door did open, it was Stefan that answered, "Hey."

"Hey, you okay?"

"I'm good- you?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Peyton sighed, knowing she would have to ask with Nathan's hawk eyes on her, "Is Damon in?" _No, he's not._

"Yeah, let me go get him." _Great._ Truth be told, it wasn't like she didn't want to spend time with him. But now Nathan thought there was something going on between them _as well _and she would prefer not to have to have every glance and look exchanged between the pair to be analyzed and scrutinized by both Nathan and Caroline.

When Damon emerged at the door he was rubbing his eyes with bed head hair as if he had just woken up… And he was shirtless; naturally. Of course he wouldn't be wearing a top, she thought to herself. She shrugged away the thoughts that would very much prove Nathan and Caroline and Tyler's point that he was more than just a friend. Denial was very much Peyton's friend lately, it would seem.

"Hey, Nate wanted me to ask you if you wanted to get something to eat. It's his last night here and Caroline's making dinner." Damon looked from the blonde in front of him to Nathan sitting in the car waiting patiently, for some reason grinning from ear to ear. "Sure, just give me two minutes to get ready." He began to walk away when Peyton called after him, "Ask Stefan if he wants to come as well."

As she treaded back to the car and got in she could sense the expression on Nathan's face before she saw it, "Don't say a word." She warned. He held his hands up innocently whilst that damn smirk was still plastered across his face.

When Damon and Stefan emerged from the house ten minutes later, Peyton introduced Stefan and Nathan as she reversed out of the driveway and sped off down the road.

...

"Oh joy, you could make it." Caroline's face fell when she saw Damon standing at her door.

"Peyton's really starting to rub off on you, you know that?" Damon told her, narrowing his eyes.

"Well considering how much you like her I really don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult." Caroline retorted.

"And I don't know whether I should be complimented or insulted by _that_." Peyton added.

Caroline smiled innocently as Damon scoffed, "Nobody ever seems to care about insulting me." At that, every single person around him laughed- even Nathan! Damon sulkily stalked across the house wondering if his coming here was such a good idea. He entered the living room, sitting in the armchair, and not waiting for invitation as he began to nibble on the snacks laid out at the table. "Moody really isn't a good look on you." Peyton whispered to him as she sat herself in the adjoining sofa and Nathan sat next to her.

"Whatever." He huffed looking sullen as he pulled out his phone and began to fidget on it. Peyton smiled; he looked like a moody little boy upset because he had just lost his favourite toy. It was almost… cute. Wonderful, Peyton thought to herself, add that to the already growing list of adjectives she should not be associating with him.

Caroline wasn't sat in her seat for more than two seconds before she jumped up again, "I'm going to go check on the food."

"I'll help." Nathan offered, not taking no for an answer when Caroline told him he really didn't need to. Peyton watched as he followed her into the kitchen and not a minute later Damon announced he was going to the bathroom. "And then there were two."

...

Nathan picked up a photo frame of a young girl, no older than seven or eight with a man, "You and your dad?"

Caroline smiled and he watched it fade slowly away, as if she were thinking of an old memory, long gone now. "You live with your mom now?"

Caroline nodded her head as she opened the oven, carefully placing the lasagne inside. "My mom and dad broke up and he moved out a couple of years ago." She explained.

"You miss him." It wasn't a question.

"I was always more of a daddy's girl. Me and my mom are too different; when she was my age she was at the shooting range with my grandfather- the closest I've ever got to physical exercise is when my favourite clothing store has a half off all dresses sale." Caroline raised a brow as Nathan chuckled. "And now with my dad gone and her always at work, this house feels ridiculously empty. That's why I'm always around at Matt's or Peyton's."

"Do you see your dad often?"

"Not as much as I'd like to, but more often than Peyton sees her dad or Matt sees his mom, so I can't really complain too much." The blonde shrugged her shoulders carelessly. "At least you don't have to worry about living with your parents anymore."

Nathan laughed softly, "Actually me and Hales have moved back in with my mom- she's not doing too well at the moment and I said I'd stay with her until she gets back on her feet."

"Huh" Caroline thought aloud, "Guess Peyton was right about you- you really are a saint."

"Yeah, I'm not sure if Hales would say the same thing." Nathan commented, smiling as he thought that by tonight his wife would be back in his arms. It was strange how it had only been a couple of days and he already missed her that much. Thinking of Haley reminded him, "I spoke to Peyton about Damon today."

"What did you say?" Caroline wondered, eyes narrowing.

"Just that I knew she had feelings for him. And that she couldn't hide away from them forever."

"Well if there's one person who will try…" Caroline mused sagely.

...

Damon returned to find his brother and Peyton laughing about something or other, still lost in his own thought as he sat back down next to his brother. "Are you okay?" Stefan asked, doing nothing to hide the concern in his voice.

Damon snapped his head up, as he pulled himself away from his thoughts, "Yeah." He couldn't even bring himself to lie convincingly as Stefan and Peyton exchanged wary glances. "I'm going to go check on Nathan and Caroline." Peyton made an excuse to leave figuring that Damon would probably be more inclined to speak to his brother about whatever was troubling him than her.

Once she had left the room Stefan didn't even need to ask again when Damon turned to his brother, "They're back. I figured whoever killed that woman was just passing through town, but there have been two more vampire killings."

"Does Liz have any idea who-"

Damon shook his head, essentially cutting Stefan off, "Whoever it is, they're more skilled than Logan, more powerful- clean cut deaths." Damon turned his head to face his brother, sighing as he said the most disturbing part of the whole affair, "There were two bodies… One was left at Mayor Lockwood's estate, the other outside the sheriff's office; both key figures in the founder's council. Whoever it is that's been killing these people left a message… Catch me if you can."

...

The aroma of freshly baked bread welcomed Peyton as she entered the kitchen. She made a beeline straight to the source of the smell, scowling when Caroline swatted her fingers away. "Hands off!" Caroline glowered.

Peyton looked to her friend for support but he shrugged his shoulders deciding this wasn't a battle he wanted to involve himself in. Peyton watched as Caroline ran frantically from one part of the kitchen to another and chose now wasn't the best time to test her patience. "What can I do to help?"

Caroline let out a long hearty laugh, "Oh Peyton, no offense, but I've tasted your cooking." Nathan chortled alongside the blonde as Peyton gasped, clearly offended. She glared at Nathan accusingly, "What? She's got a point, Sawyer! It's pretty bad…" He guffawed. Peyton folded her shoulders across her arms, mumbling something about how her two friends were a bad influence on each other.

"You spoken to Tyler lately?" Caroline addressed her question to Peyton.

She shook her head, "Why?"

"He got into a fight with his dad- he's been staying with Matt for the last couple of days." Caroline explained as she rummaged around her cupboard for salad dressing.

"It's that bad?" Peyton asked, shocked; Tyler had always said how he and his father didn't have the best of relationships, but he hadn't mentioned any of this to her.

"He probably didn't want to bother you- he knew Nathan was coming up to stay at yours." Caroline answered Peyton's unspoken questions. _How did she always seem to know what she was thinking?_ Peyton wondered in amazement.

"I'll call him tonight." Peyton said more to herself than anyone else in the room. "Do you know how long he's going to stay with Matt?"

Caroline shrugged her shoulders, "I think Matt likes the company though, so he's not going to be asking him to leave any time soon. It sucks for me though. They're always playing football or stupid computer games together. 'Oh, Car, we just got on to the next level of Zombie Wars.'" She mimicked, lowering her voice in an attempt to sound like Matt. "I swear sometimes I think he's going to break up with me for Tyler."

"Tyler has already been on one gay date." The curly haired blonde commented in agreement.

"They do make a pretty hot gay couple." Caroline remarked as Nathan looked between the pair of friends, questioning how they had somehow come upon this topic of conversation.

...

Nathan wandered back into the living room to see the pair of brothers deep in conversation, stopping abruptly when they noticed they were in company. "They're talking about things I'd really prefer not to repeat," Nathan gestured to the door he had just come out of.

"Like what?" Damon asked, intrigued.

"Who makes the best looking gay couple, for one." Nathan laughed as he realized it sounded even stupider when he said it out loud.

"Wow…" Damon whistled, "So, it was me and which other person?"

"Dude, you think Caroline would say even one nice thing about you then you are seriously deluded."

Stefan laughed, explaining at Damon's questioning look, "its just funny- he met you only yesterday and he already knows you so well."

But if Damon was insulted he didn't show it, shrugging off the comment, "People love to hate me. I'm an easy target- if I wasn't around, it would make everyone's lives a lot harder."

"Is that what you tell yourself when you cry yourself to sleep at night?" Nathan grinned mischievously.

"I sleep just fine, with a nice warm body by my side."

"Yet that nice, warm body is never Peyton's." He countered effortlessly; it was all in jest, Damon knew that. But still he was suddenly paranoid; had she talked to Nathan about him. Or were the feelings he was sure she had for him just imagined. It wouldn't be the first time, he lamented.

Before he could reply, Caroline and Peyton emerged from the kitchen with plates in hand, as Caroline ordered them all to help. The boys got up from where they were seated and scattered around the room; Stefan and Nathan went to the kitchen to get more dishes under Caroline's instruction as Damon began to set up the table in the dining room.

Peyton walked in as he arranged five place settings around the table and she couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "It's weird, seeing you so… domesticated."

"All your dreams coming true right now, aren't they?" He raised a brow at her as he took the hot dish of lasagne from her hands

She felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips, "Anyone ever told you your self-assured arrogance is _ridiculously _annoying?" She told him, but when he looked at her he could tell she didn't mean it…much.

"It's been mentioned to me once or twice." He stopped his task as he rested against an ornately decorated wooden chair at the head of the table. He stared intently at her, as if he was devoting every bit of his attention on her.

"You never listened?" She asked, feigning disappointment.

"I listened; I just didn't hold _anybody's_ opinions highly enough to change who I am." The honesty of his words never resonated with him so much; the judgement he would receive from people for being what he was couldn't change him for all the want in the world, and that was if he even wanted to change. He tilted his head to stare at Peyton, making her shift uncomfortably, as if his gaze could cut right through her. "Have you ever had a part of who you are, that people would want to change _so badly_ but you knew never would?"

In that moment she realized he was talking about more than just his arrogance, "No." She answered him honestly.

He nodded his head, not really expecting any other answer. "Then you're lucky."

Before she could say anything else they were joined by the rest of her friends, all carrying different sorts of beautifully-looking dishes and the moment to understand the meaning of his words was gone.

"You two stop flirting long enough so we can all sit down and enjoy a nice meal together?" Nathan asked as a wicked smirk flashed across his face. _Oh yes, he was definitely milking this for all it was worth_, she thought to herself as she scowled.

"Jealous because wifey isn't here for you to flirt with?" Damon retorted sat he sat down on the seat in front of him next to where Nathan had just sat.

"Yeah," Nathan replied honestly making Peyton smile whilst she knew Caroline restrained from commenting on how romantic that comment was. "Besides, watching you two makes me glad that I'm not dating. All the uncertainty, the wondering whether she likes me or not… No thanks. Married to Hales at least I know where I stand." _Oh great_, she frowned, so now they were openly discussing the pair, all pretense and subtle hints dropped just liked that. She knew he could tell he had pissed her off and she only felt herself get even angrier when he then whispered something to Damon that she couldn't quite make out and watched him let out a small chuckle as her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

She didn't realize she was the only person that hadn't taken a place at the table until Caroline ushered her into the seat next to Stefan, whilst she sat at the head of the table.

Seemingly done with annoying her for now, Nathan turned to the feat laid out at the table; from the lasagne, to the freshly cut salad, to the home-baked bread. One thing was sure; Caroline really did know how to go all out. "You really shouldn't have gone to all this trouble- I would've been fine if we just ordered take-out."

"Don't be silly- it's your last night here." The blonde waved away his thanks as if it were nothing, like she hadn't spent all day in the kitchen so they could be sat here right now. If it was because he was her friend, or because Caroline genuinely liked Nathan, or maybe a combination of both, Peyton realized suddenly, whatever the reason, she loved Caroline.… Nathan not so much right now, which was why she hastened to add, "Way more effort than you warrant."

Nathan just laughed lightly, unfazed, "Ah Sawyer, come on, it was a joke!" He knew the source of her irritation immediately.

"And yet no-one's laughing."

"That's because only you and me know the punch line." Of course; the punch line being there was no uncertainty. _She_ knew exactly where they stood. He had told her how she felt and she felt the same but would never act on it. Damon was completely in the dark and she had the power to change it; if she wanted to.

A silence took hold for only a few seconds before Damon broke it as only he could, "Anyone else feel like they're on the outside of an inside joke."

"A joke that, evidently, only one of them finds funny." Caroline agreed as she began to serve out the food. Peyton was still annoyed at Nathan but for everyone elses sake, and the fact that he was leaving in a couple of hours, (that and she could never really be too angry at him for long), she decided to let it go.

"So you two live together?" Nathan addressed his question to the brothers sitting opposite each other.

It was Stefan who answered, "Our parents are both dead." Damon added for good measure, "No matter what, we somehow always find our way back to each other, right brother?" Stefan gave a small nod; they didn't always, scratch that, they never really got along, but they also seemed to never be able to shake the other. Not for want of trying. So eventually, over the years they had come to a truce and reached an acceptance of the others existence in their lives.

"I could never imagine me and Lucas living together." Nathan tried to picture it in his head, but shook the thought away. Peyton could see what he meant; it just seemed unnatural.

"You've never lived together?" Stefan raised his eyebrows in surprise as Peyton realized she had only really ever talked about her friends to Caroline and Damon; maybe it was because they knew never to ask questions, letting her tell them only what she wanted to and not really pushing her for more details. There were still too many raw emotions where Lucas was concerned.

"No- same dad, different moms and our dad was kind of a dick. He didn't really get to know Lucas until recently." Nathan explained, "It's a long, boring story that's way too serious to go into right now." He waved it off dismissively. "I went straight from living with my mom and dad to living by myself to with Haley and Brooke and now Haley and my mom."

"Sounds like you've got an issue with settling down in one place." Damon whistled.

Stefan laughed, "That's funny coming from you."

"I don't have an issue with settling down; its just nothing ever holds my interest long enough to get me to stick around."

"You sound like a four old with a short attention span." Caroline commented as she broke off a piece of bread and bit down on it.

"You have the brain of a two year old with-" Damon began before Peyton cut him off. "Could you both please give it a rest for a couple of hours?"

Nathan raised a brow, "Guys I'd listen to her, she never uses 'please' when she wants me to shut up."

"That's because when you piss me off I get this inexplicable pleasure from hitting you".

"It's not that inexplicable." Stefan countered causing both Nathan and Peyton to laugh.

"Anyway, Peyton's violence issues aside…" Nathan started before Peyton interrupted him.

"I do not have violence issues."

"That would've been a lot more convincing if you hadn't just kicked _me _under the table as you said that." Damon grimaced as he started rubbing his sore leg. "Clearly her anger issues aren't the only thing she needs to work on..." Damon muttered to Nathan as he chuckled.

"Why did I think inviting you was a good idea again?" Peyton narrowed her eyes accusingly at Damon.

"I actually think it was me that wanted to invite Damon." Nathan offered her.

Damon turned to Nathan with an appreciative look on his face, she was aware that he was doing this to frustrate her. "Thanks buddy!" It was working.

"Don't mention it, pal." Nathan shrugged.

"Pass me a bucket." Peyton muttered as she sullenly played with her food. Damon just stared at her before looking down at his own plate and laughing quietly to himself.

"Oh I forgot to tell you, guess who we played in our last game?" At Peyton's shrug, Nathan continued, "Darius."

"Seriously? You know he's got the hots for Haley, right?" Peyton told him as she shuddered. Darius was a complete creep and ever since Nathan and Haley got married, he would hit on Haley whenever they met up during games.

Nathan nodded his head; he knew all too well, "Yeah, he tried it on with her again and Dan went crazy and nearly knocked him out." At Peyton's shocked expression Nathan replied, "Yeah, I know. First my mom and now him- I swear crazy must run in our family."

"You better watch out, Nate." Peyton warned.

"You're too hot to be crazy." Caroline said, as Peyton just shook her head; it was ridiculous how often since her and Matt had started going out that Peyton had to remind her friend that she had a boyfriend.

Damon simply hummed as he wondered aloud, "How come I'm not crazy yet?"

His brother chuckled, "Yet?"

"Et tu, brother?" Damon sighed, cocking his head to a side to stare at Stefan sat across the table.

Stefan simply clasped his hands together as Peyton replied for him, "Don't have a go at him for saying what we were all thinking."

He narrowed his eyes, honing in on her as he readied himself for the verbal attack of wits that was sure to ensue. "If I'm insane, you're unstable."

"I'd have to be given the amount of time I spend with you." She argued back, unaffected by his retort.

"I don't ask you to." She realized that may be true.

"Nobody else will." He was aware that definitely was true.

"So why do you?" He challenged her, his blue eyes daring her hazel orbs to tell the truth.

"I must have a thing for the antagonist."

"If I'm the antagonist that makes you a masochist…" He said. And he could've just left it at that, but he couldn't help himself as he added, "…And bitchy."

"At least I'm not arrogant." She suddenly felt very much in her element.

"I'd rather be arrogant than emotionally unavailable."

"Better that than physically _too _available."

"I'd prefer that than always ready to be disappointed."

"And you're forever eager to disappoint."

"Guarded." He retorted, awaiting a comeback but still surprised by the one she gave.

"Secretive." She almost whispered, before closing her lips to give only half a smile. And that was the final blow; the one that cut the game to an abrupt end. The others, shocked into submission seemed regain their ability to talk, as Nathan voiced everyone's thoughts, "We need to call a time out so we can put you two on opposite sides of the room?"

Damon smiled, shaking his head, "It was just a joke. Neither of us can get annoyed; how can we when it's the truth? Right, sweetheart?" She nodded her head in confirmation as time suddenly seemed to start moving again in the room and Caroline said something about clearing away the dishes. But Damon didn't hear her, his mind was still stuck on Peyton's last word; secretive. For some reason it seemed to cut deeper than any of the other words combined. But why? It was possibly the truest of them all; he was secretive. He had to be. Or maybe he just told himself he had to be. No. He couldn't be honest with her. If he was, she would become just another person that wished he was different.

Too lost in his own torturous thoughts and circling arguments, it was only when his brother spoke that he realized it was just the two of them left in the dining room. "I've never seen you look so pensive." Stefan remarked as he watched his older brother suddenly snapped back into the present.

"When do you think you would've told her?" Damon frowned, explaining when he realized Stefan couldn't follow his thoughts and so had no idea what he was talking about. "Elena- if she didn't figure it, when do you think you would've told her who we are."

Stefan brown orbs widened, completely taken aback by the question, yet he still answered, "I don't know. I know I couldn't keep it up forever, but I knew as soon as I told her the truth, things would be different. That _we _would be different. You want to tell her?"

"What difference would it make if I did?"

"None to you," Stefan admitted, "it would be a world of difference to her though."

"I can't change for her, Stefan. I won't." He said resolutely.

Stefan just shook his head at his brother's ignorance. "Damon, do you know where you are right now? You're at Caroline's house having dinner with me and Caroline and her; all because she _asked_ you too. I already know you'd save her life in a heartbeat without hesitation. And you're sitting here, talking to me about whether you should be honest with her, not for yourself, but for her benefit. You're already changing, brother, even if you can't see it."

...

By the time they had rejoined the rest of the group they were all sat down cross-legged in the living room, having given up on washing the dishes. "The girls decided it would be a great idea to play 'I never'." Nathan glanced at the pair walking in and judging by the look on his face he definitely did not think it was such a great idea. "Can we just set some ground rules before we start?" Nathan said as he eyes stared, with a look of horror, as he watched the blonde friends pour what must be at least five different alcoholic beverages into a large jug in the middle of the circle, forming a murky sewage-water concoction he could only imagine tasted about as good as it looked.

"OK, granddad!" Caroline laughed as she settled in next to Peyton.

Nathan just ignored her, feeling setting some kind of bar on this game was probably the best idea. "No singling anyone out- Peyton's got to drive me back to the station and I'd prefer not to get stopped by your mom on the way back for reckless driving."

"OK, that's fair I guess." Caroline relented easily.

"No purposely revealing dirty secrets either."

"But that's half the fun!" Caroline pouted, as Nathan simply rolled his eyes. OK, so maybe that was asking a bit too much. "So can we start already?" Nathan sighed as he reluctantly nodded his head.

"Yay, we'll go around in the circle clockwise. Me first." Caroline clapped her hands together before suddenly adopting a very serious face as she thought of the first I never. As if struck by genius, her eyes widened as she said, "I never pee'd standing up."

"Oh that was bush league!" Nathan remarked as all the boys in the room filled their cups with the murky drink in front of them and Peyton and Caroline high five'd each other.

Caroline and Peyton laughed aloud as they all spluttered, coughed and gagged on their drinks. "What the hell is in this? It tastes like bodily fluids." Damon exclaimed as he forced himself a swallow.

"It tastes like death." Stefan choked as his eyes began to water.

Damon glanced at the two girls who were quite literally rolling around on the floor in stitches with laughter, "I don't know why you two are so happy- you're going to have to try this… liquid as well." He scrunched his eyeballs as he swallowed more of it down; it seemed too kind to call the invention a 'drink' at this point.

"I'm suddenly regretting the one rule I made." Nathan lamented as he glared at the two teens getting a little too much pleasure at their expense, as he forced down the rest of the devil drink

"Any time you two are done, Peyton it's your turn." Damon said as he too forced down the rest of cup as he watched Nathan and Stefan do.

"I've never… slept with more than one person in one night." She watched as both Damon and Nathan reached for the jug again. Nathan scowled at her as she replied defensively, "That one wasn't singling out genders, it was singling out characteristics."

"Careful Sawyer, I happen to know all of your 'characteristics' as well." He sighed as he readied himself for another onslaught of teary eyes, a scolding mouth and a burnt throat.

"No picking on anyone." She reminded him, pointing a finger in warning.

"Yeah, yeah…" He agreed, muttering something too indistinct for her to make out.

"Ugrhh," Damon chagrined, "It gets worse the second time you drink it… if that were even possible."

"OK, my turn finally…" Nathan sighed in relief that he wouldn't have to drink, if only for one turn. He already had one prepared but he still pretended to think; he knew it had to be something Peyton had definitely done, but not too specific that nobody else would drink. He grinned as he said "I never spent a night in jail."

Just like that, the two girls smile's suddenly dropped from their faces as they both held out their hands for the jug, each surprised at the other's discretion.

"My, how the tables have turned." A smile tugged at Stefan's lips, as Damon nodded his head, "And they say crime goes unpunished too often nowadays."

Peyton turned to Caroline, "Your mom's the sheriff!"

"Exactly! Which is why when she gets a noise complaint from her _own_ house, she decides to take me in to 'teach me a lesson'." Caroline finished with quotation marks. "Why did you spend a night in jail?"

"Stealing clothes." Peyton replied simply, feeling all but Nathan's looks of judgement, as he was the only one that knew the full story, "It was a _just_ crime!" She held her hands out in exasperation.

"A just crime? Now I've heard it all…" Damon shook his head as he realized this is what it felt like to take the moral high ground. "And can you do less talking and more drinking?" He continued bluntly, beginning to grow impatient.

"Gloating really doesn't become you." Peyton scorned, unhappy with the sudden power reversal as she held her noise shut, unwilling to smell as well as gulp down the drink. Peyton gasped for breath as she put down the empty cup; maybe downing the drink in one wasn't the best idea. Meanwhile Caroline was waving her hands around like a madwoman as she forced her lips never to leave the glass, determined to not be defeated by her own monstrous creation.

Well at least the guys had the decency to refrain from laughing, Peyton thought to herself. It was only when she saw them that she noted each of them was holding on to their laughter with every ounce of determination they had in them. It was Damon that broke first; and after he did, the other two followed as they all guffawed at the girl's.

It took them a couple of minutes to settle down, by which time the aftertaste, which Peyton and Caroline agreed was even worse than the taste of the drink, finally seemed to disappear.

"You know, I was half-expecting you to drink that turn." Nathan admitted to Damon who just shrugged his shoulders, "Turns out the Peyton and Caroline are the only two felons in the room."

Stefan leaned over to his brother, "He's not the only one that thought that."

Damon grinned, replying, "Oh, I've been caught a couple of times over the years. I've never been more relieved that I have the ability to compel that's for sure." Stefan nodded his head; well, that made more sense.

Damon settled back into his position and considered, unsure who he wanted to see suffer, before finally deciding to take a roll of the dice and just learn something new about the people sitting around him, (which he was fairly certain was the actual point of the game).

"I never kissed somebody of the same sex."

Just when he thought that maybe he should've just gone for something he knew someone would've done, Peyton slowly reached for her cup. He widened his eyes in surprise.

"We have to drink- we don't have to tell the story." Peyton said at his questioning glance. Before Damon could protest he was cut off.

"Her name was Anna- just a kiss. She was a lesbian. And yeah… She was hot." Nathan said answering every question Damon had without even asking them.

"Nathan!" She hit him, feeling like he had just invaded her privacy.

"What? You can't drop that bombshell and not tell the guy! If it was Hales, I would want to know!" He justified as he realized she was no longer listening to him; her mind too preoccupied with downing the drink.

"Your turn." Peyton croaked out to Stefan. He didn't even have to think of his as he had everyone groaning and cursing him whilst Caroline poured each of their drinks; "I've never slept with anyone in this room."

Damon couldn't help but feel a small amount of admiration along with the nauseous feeling that was currently bubbling away in his stomach; if he could get everyone but him in the room to drink, hats off to him.

"Can we please break whilst I get some water to wash this down with?" Caroline asked not waiting for anyone's approval before she jumped up. Stefan slid across the floor to where Peyton was sprawled out, her head resting on the sofa nearby. "You look how I feel." He laughed.

"Three times in a row- I swear if Caroline makes me drink that again, I'm disowning her as a friend." Peyton groaned as she lifted her head to stare at Stefan, "How are you OK? Oh yeah, you've only had to go once." She realized.

"It's not my fault I'm not a felon, promiscuous or curious about my sexuality."

"I'm coming for you in my next go." Peyton muttered; she was adamant that she wasn't going to be the only one feeling like this. Then she turned to see Damon nursing his head as if he had just been knocked out and she couldn't help but laugh. So maybe this game wasn't _all _bad.

"How are you feeling?"

Damon looked up from the wooden floor, gesturing to Peyton, "Not nearly as bad as her." He answered Nathan.

"Yeah, she's not doing so well in this game." Nathan agreed, before grimacing, "And trust me I know, from past experience, she is _terrible_ at holding down her liquor."

"Good luck with getting home!" Damon coughed, wondering what was taking Caroline so long with bringing the water.

"Yeah, part of me kind of wishes I didn't have to go back." Nathan admitted as Damon frowned at him.

"I thought you couldn't wait to get back to the hot wife."

"I can't." He agreed, "But Peyton's going to be here by herself and honestly, I kind of miss her to death back home. I can't even begin to imagine how she feels." He finished, letting out a deep sigh.

Damon opened his mouth as he considered saying something, before stopping himself. Finally he spoke, choosing his words very carefully, "Caroline adores her and I'll look out for her."

But whatever reassurance he was hoping to offer Nathan just steered the conversation into what he had been hoping to avoid. "Have you told her how you feel about her?"

He couldn't help the sad laugh that escaped from his mouth. "It didn't exactly go how I imagined." At Nathan's quiet, he asked, "How did you know?"

"I'm not blind." At Damon's quizzical look, Nathan laughed, "But clearly you are… It's not difficult. The way you look at her- like she's the only girl in the room (as cheesy as it sounds); it's how I look at Hales."

Damon hesitated, "She's pretty amazing." It was an understatement, but Nathan knew how deep his feelings for her ran already, he didn't want to make himself seem any more pathetic.

"Yeah she is." Nathan sighed as he stared at his friend, currently burying her head into a pillow, "And she's been through a lot... A hell of a lot more than most people her age. She doesn't deserve to get hurt any more than she already has." Damon knew the implication behind the carefully selected words; don't break her heart.

"I know." Damon nodded his head to make Nathan knew he understood. And he really did. He didn't want to hurt her. But he was aware that just by being what he was he already was hurting her- even if she didn't know it yet. "I would never willingly hurt her… But sometimes that's not enough."

Nathan shook his head, "The fact that you even care to think that- maybe that's enough."

Before Damon could reply, Caroline returned from the kitchen, "OK, new rule- we stop the game as soon as someone gets to seven drinks."

"Or until someone passes out before then." Stefan mumbled. She took her seat next to Peyton and Stefan and they all reluctantly filled their drinks at the ready.

Caroline considered for a second, "I've never taken drugs."

Peyton furrowed her brows as she reluctantly put her lips to the cup. Everyone but Nathan stared at her in surprise, "I thought I was being nice and giving everyone a time-out." Caroline felt the need to explain herself. Damon stared at Nathan who just averted his gaze, instead looking down at the ground. Damon realized that maybe that was one story he felt he really shouldn't share without Peyton's permission.

Ready to move the game along, Peyton wasted no time, "I never joined the mile-high club."

To everyone's surprise, all for different reasons, everybody but Peyton and Nathan drank. "This game is ridiculous." Caroline squealed as her hopes of having to go another round without having to drink were squashed.

"Brother, you surprise me!" Damon remarked, offering a sideways glance to Stefan as he polishes his own drink.

"Yeah, I'm sure you didn't think I had it in me."

"No, not that… You're not a virgin?" He exclaimed, his face the picture of disbelief.

Stefan rolled his eyes as he continued the game, "I've never pretended I was blind so I can get a bump up to first class on an aeroplane." Stefan looked pointedly at his brother, whilst the other three all gasped and sighed.

"You're despicable." Peyton exclaimed.

"Do you not have any shame?" Caroline agreed.

"Dude, seriously- not cool." Nathan's tone was full of disappointment.

"Have we seriously not come to a place free of judgement yet?" Damon shuddered as he downed yet another drink.

Nathan's turn came and went, revealing that nobody had ever seen their parent's having sex, with Nathan admitting he came close once; almost walking in on them.

"I've never worn a skirt." Damon declared as he watched, as expected, Peyton and Caroline begin to drink. What he didn't expect was Nathan to subtly hide his own drinking, "Oh come on! Seriously, superstar!"

"It was a dare!" He shot back defensively.

"That explains the first time…" Peyton trailed off as Caroline cut her off, eager to get the game she had wanted to play to be over as soon as possible.

...

"Oh come on!" Nathan shook his head in disgust. "You guys have hearts made of stone..." He proclaimed as he and Caroline were the only ones that drank; apparently they were the only two people in the room that cried during a film.

"OK, so that brings the score at… Stefan with three, me with four, Nathan and Damon both with five and Peyton with six." Caroline said, reading from the score sheet she had improvised from a tissue and pen that were lying close by. All that had been revealed so far was none of them had hay fever (a tame one Peyton offered so nobody had to drink), Stefan was the only one to own an entire film collection of an actor/actress (Damon revealed it was Audrey Hepburn, only confirmed by Stefan's silence) and Peyton was the only person who had drunk dialled her dad in the middle of the night (though Stefan and Damon were the only ones aware they were at an advantage, considering the telephone hadn't even been invented when their father was still alive).

It was Stefan's turn by the time anyone had to drink again as both Damon and Caroline had sex in a public place, aeroplane not included. Peyton could only assume it was with each other as neither seemed willing to divulge information and they both couldn't even look the other in the eye.

"That means Damon or Peyton just have to drink one more time before this wretched game is over." Caroline commented, giving Nathan a stern glance suggesting that it would be in his best interest if this game was over sooner rather than later.

"I've never…" He began as his mind wandered through different ways to end the game he never really wanted to begin. Finally his mind settled on something he knew Peyton had done because of the conversation they had just yesterday. "… saved someone's life before."

Peyton and Damon stared at each other as the same memory replayed itself in each of their minds. She wordlessly lifted her cup to her mouth as she began to drink. Nathan and Caroline were both taken aback when Damon and Stefan also began to drink.

"Who did you two…?" Nathan asked.

"We've saved each other's lives." Stefan answered for both of them. Numerous times is what he neglected to mention. He had lost count of how many times that they had saved each despite the intense hatred Damon declared for his brother.

"Well, I guess you two win." Nathan declared to Damon and Peyton as they both just shot daggers at him.

"Trust me, in this game, nobody wins." Damon told him wisely.

"I don't know, I still reckon Stefan got off pretty lightly." Peyton put her hands on her arms, unimpressed by how little he was targeted in the game.

"Hey, don't hate on my baby bro" Stefan was almost shocked at his brothers leap to his defense… and then he finished his sentence and was suddenly less so "just because he lives such a dull existence."

"Better a dull existence than faking a handicap just so you get a bump up from economy." Peyton retorted.

"We've already established you're no better than a crook."

"You've hardly come out of this game smelling of roses either!" Peyton folded her arms.

"Peyton even _I_ know that when you have to justify your actions by comparing yourself to _me_… things are bad." He told her, laughing when she was unable to come up with a reply.

"Look anyway guys, as much as I'd love to stay- we really should be heading back." Nathan glanced at the time, unaware that they had spent the better part of the afternoon and evening at Caroline's. "It's a good job all my stuffs already in your car." Nathan commented to Peyton as he forced himself to his feet, pulling her up along with him.

"Are you okay to drive?" Stefan's asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Peyton nodded her head not feeling nearly as drowsy as she probably should.

"You sure?" Damon asked, more than willing to drop them off.

"I'll be fine." Peyton reiterated, assuring the brothers as she walked in a straight line to prove it. "We're probably not going to have time to drop you off- I can drop Nate then come back here. I shouldn't be long." She offered but both Damon and Stefan shook their heads.

"We'll be fine to walk- it's not far."

The five of them walked to the door as Caroline practically jumped into Nathan's arms causing him to laugh. She looked teary eyed as she separated herself from him, "You need to come visit again soon." She made him promise before finally nodding her head and stepping away. Stefan and Nathan shook hands cordially as Caroline turned to Peyton, "You're staying at mine tonight."

Peyton shook her head, "I can stay at my own place- I'll be fine."

"Well, I won't be. I want the company." Caroline said with a voice that left no room for argument. Peyton could see what she was doing, understood the gesture; she knew Peyton would be a mess after Nathan left so she made sure she wouldn't be alone. And for the second time that night, Peyton couldn't be more grateful to be friends with Caroline.

Nathan and Damon hugged in a way only guys do; in the sort of masculine way that Peyton always used to find so funny. "About what we talked about…" Nathan began.

"I meant it." Damon reassured him, causing Peyton to knit her brows together in confusion, completely at a loss to what they were talking about.

Peyton glanced at her watch; realizing they should be going she said quick goodbyes to Stefan and Damon and her and Nathan walked to her car.

...

"Well, I guess I'll see you soon." Peyton placed her hands on her hips as she stood awkwardly at the platform with Nathan.

"What- I don't even get a hug? Your friends hugged me and I've only known them for a couple of days!" He remarked, clearly unimpressed.

Peyton laughed sadly, "Nate, if I hug you I don't know if I'll be able to let go."

"Then I'll miss me train and have to stay another day." He replied casually, "Wouldn't be the worst scenario."

She smiled as her arms wrapped around his, holding on as if for dear life. He didn't say anything as he felt a tear soak his shoulder, holding onto her until she was ready to let go of him.

"I'll miss you like hell, Sawyer." He told her as he wiped a tear before it fell down her cheek.

"I'll miss you too." She half whispered before punching his shoulder she had wept on only seconds before, "And don't think I don't know what you were doing at Caroline's- playing Cupid with me and Damon."

"I like him." Nathan laughed, thinking there was no point in denying it. "And you do too." At her silence, he thought to himself that she at least wasn't in denial anymore. It was definitely a step in the right direction. "Remember what I said." He reminded her.

Their heads both turned as a train travelling through the station came to a halt at the platform.

"Guess this is you." She sighed.

"Yeah. We'll speak everyday." She nodded her head in agreement. "Circumstances aside, I'm glad you moved. This place; these people- they seem good for you." He told her, as he felt his mind put more at ease since he had met her friends and seen her life here. And he suddenly felt like he understood why she moved; granted she could've gone about it in a better way, as opposed to running away in the middle of the night, but he was happy that she chose this town.

"You don't want to miss your train." Peyton said as she realized that they couldn't delay him leaving for any longer. He nodded his head as he placed a hand on her hair, kissing her on the forehead as he felt himself choke up slightly. Slowly, he walked away from her and sat at a window seat on the train, her body still in sight as he watched all the effort it took her to hold herself together. He held his hand out in goodbye, sighing as her warm breath steamed up the window separating the two of them.

The train sounded as someone called over the PA that the train at platform four was leaving the station and she watched her friend slowly carried away from her in a billow of smoke. All that remained was an empty station.

...

Peyton didn't know what possessed her to ring their doorbell at twelve am, but she knew that he would be awake and for some reason she had to tell him now, whilst the alcohol was still in her bloodstream and she still had the nerve to do it. She knew that come morning the moment would be gone and she had to talk to him now.

A light illuminated the hallway beyond the door and she heard shuffling inside as he answered the door, only half surprised that it revealed Peyton.

"I figured it out." She told him, not wasting any time with 'hello's'.

"You want to maybe enlighten the rest of the class?" Damon pointed to himself, completely lost.

"There's a difference between not being able to trust someone and not telling them things. I should know; I've done the first thing my entire life. But you…" She paused, biting down on her lip. He didn't have to wait for her to say it; he had been expecting it for quite some time. Perhaps since the moment he had met her. "You're hiding something from me."

"Peyton." Hey began, unsure what to say; if he could even say anything to that.

But she solved his problem by stopping him with a wave of her hand, "Don't. Just don't insult me by lying and telling me I'm wrong." She sighed as she blurted out everything, "Nathan told me today that I had to stop being so scared, that I had to eventually open up and trust somebody. But how can I trust you when I know you're not being honest with me?" She asked him, searching his eyes, _hoping_, he could come up with some sort of answer that she couldn't since the drive to his house. When he didn't, she continued, "You get phone calls and then just disappear. Liz calls you out of rooms and I _know _it's not for founder's council stuff. And that man- the man who attacked you, you haven't mentioned him since. You don't talk about him so I've never asked." She breathed a sigh or relief as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

And it seemed to transfer from her directly to him.

He suddenly felt as if he was at a crossroads and he didn't know where to turn. The options were clear; tell her the truth, right there and then, or lie- remember that Nathan had told him that she had been through enough already and he promised him he wasn't going to complicate her life any further. Either way, he knew it was going to feel like he made the wrong decision.

The words were simple enough. I am a vampire.

But for some reason, it just didn't feel like the right time. Maybe he was just being a coward. Or maybe, he was doing at least _one _right thing by her by denying her the truth.

Instead of being forced to make a choice, Peyton granted him an easy out, and he took it. "You don't have to tell me. That's not why I'm here. I just need you to know… You can't expect me to open up to you if you don't open up to me."

Damon mutely nodded his head; he could hardly ask anything different of her. "So where does that leave us?"

Peyton shook her head, with sadness dotted along every feature on her face. "I feel like every time we get _close_", to us, she thought silently, "one of us has an epiphany that just pushes us one step further apart. If it's not the ghosts of lovers we could never have, it's this." She laughed. That was all she could do at this point. "And now it feels like we're so many miles away from each other I don't know if I can even see you anymore." She admitted to him with sorrow and a hint of regret.

He nodded his head in resignation as she walked away. _What more was there to say?_ Suddenly he called out, realizing he had to say something "Hey Peyton." She turned her head just as she reached the door to her car. "I understand what you're saying and you're right. But if we can both work through what we need to, I'm right here… And I still see you."

* * *

**Author's Note: So that was chapter 15! I know it very much feels like everything's going one step forward and two steps back with them, but don't worry- I do actually have a plan! Hope you liked it and thanks again to everyone that read's and reviews; you are all probably sick of me saying it at the end of every chapter, but I'm never going to stop! I will hopefully, probably respond to reviews in the next chapter and yeah that's it! Oh, and reviewing makes me very, very happy! :)**


	16. Fight, fight, fight

**AN: Hiii, so chapter 16 is up, yayyy- later than expected but I was busy last week and didn't get a chance to sit down, read through and upload. I don't own characters from OTH, TVD or the song Fist Fight by For the fallen dreams (a lyric from which is the title of this chapter! The song chosen more or less just because of the title, without giving too much away,lol). Anyway, enjoy chapter 16! **

* * *

Damon began to tap impatiently on his leg as he waited for his younger brother. He was nursing a glass of O-? … No, A+ blood that he had brought up from the fridge in the cellar. His mind was consumed with thoughts that only a nice, chilled beverage, be that bourbon or blood, seemed to resolve. For the past week and a half, he found that there were only two thoughts that seemed to be haunting him; one would hopefully be fixed by the drink occupying his left hand, and his brother; if he ever decided to grace him with his presence. The other… Well, he wasn't entirely sure the other was salvageable.

He let out a sigh of frustration as he stood up and began pacing the hall, agitated. He was feeling very on edge; he had never been the most patient person and how much beauty sleep did a 160- something vampire really need? Deciding that he was done with waiting, he began in the direction of the staircase when Stefan emerged. "Stefan, I'm delighted that you decided to finally drag yourself out of bed."

Stefan took in his brother's tense stature and uneasy expression, frowning, "What's wrong?"

"Sorry to be a bad influence, but I'm going to have to ask you to take the day off school today."

"Why?" He asked, holding in a comment that the time to worry about being a bad influence was well and truly gone.

"We have an unwelcome visitor in town- I'm going to need your help to track them down." Damon explained as he was already putting on his jacket, not waiting for Stefan's agreement as he stalked his way to the door. He paused when he noticed that Stefan was still rooted in his spot, staring at him with a look of bewilderment. "You coming?" Damon began impatiently.

Stefan slowly nodded his head, "Let me just ring Elena- tell her I'm not going to be in school today."

Damon rolled his eyes as he began to walk away, calling over his shoulder "Ring her on the road. We've got work to do."

"I need to make a quick stop by Liz's office and pick up the files on everything they've got so far, which is practically nothing… and then we can check out the kill sights, see if we can find anything that stands out." Damon relayed the plan that he had thought up in the half hour he had been sat waiting for his brother to wake up.

"What's this about, Damon?" Stefan asked.

"What are you talking about? I'm trying to find whoever has been terrorizing this town you have come to know and love."

Stefan narrowed his eyes, not believing his brother for a second. There was more to it than this, but he didn't bother pushing him. If he wanted him to help him, then fine, he would play along for now.

* * *

Peyton approached from behind, not meaning to sneak up on him but startling him nonetheless as she called out, "Mr. Saltzman?"

He jumped dropping something to the ground as she instinctively went to pick it up and glanced down at the photo of a woman with his arm wrapped around her, both smiling. It was a far cry from how he looked now. "She's beautiful." Peyton commented as she handed it back to her teacher.

"She's my wife." He explained hoarsely.

Peyton nodded her head, "Today is our anniversary. She's um…. She's missing." He didn't know why he volunteered that piece of information. The only person that he had told was Larry; it seemed there was something about the Sawyer's that made them easy to talk to. Perhaps it was because they understood loss and heartache.

"I… didn't know." Peyton stared off, completely speechless.

"I'd look for her forever if I have to. I just…" He began. His voice was so tired; the sound of an uneasy resignation that searching for her would be the only thing he would know for the rest of his life. His hand went to his face, eyes closing gently before he realized where he was. "I'm sorry." He sighed, shaking his head.

"That's OK-" She began.

"No, it's not. You're my student, not my therapist. I shouldn't be offloading on you. I'm just… not having a great day." He said, glancing down at the picture one more time before carefully putting it back into the drawer by his desk.

"It's fine- really." Peyton assured him, adding, "I've had my fair share of not great days."

"Any tips?"

Peyton considered, before finally offering, "Don't drive through green lights? It never helps and almost gets you killed." She laughed weakly, knowing he wouldn't understand.

"I'll… keep that in mind. Now, take your seat- class for next period is starting soon." As if on cue, the bell rang and the steady bustle of students began to fill the classroom as Peyton took her seat, watching as Caroline cheerily skipped into the room followed by a less than enthusiastic Tyler. She looked around the room before leaning in to Caroline, "Where's Stefan?"

"Elena said he wasn't feeling well." Caroline shrugged her shoulders.

* * *

"Well that was one great, big waste of time." Damon sighed, voicing both of their thoughts.

"What exactly were you expecting to find- a trail of breadcrumbs that led right to whoever is behind these attacks?"

Damon shrugged a shoulder, "A guy can hope…"

Stefan rolled his eyes, glancing out the window and watching the shops and apartment buildings pass them by. "Just drop me off at the school-I told Elena I'd meet her there."

"Ah, how are things going with our lovely girlfriend?" Damon grinned.

Stefan gave a tight-lipped "Fine."

"She's okay with being a dead ringer for your ex? Because I've got to say that might bug me _just _a little."

"Why the sudden interest, Damon?" Stefan asked impatiently.

"I'm just wondering- I mean we've shared a girl once before…" Damon replied suggestively.

"I wonder what Peyton would say to that?" Stefan asked automatically causing the one sided smirk on Damon's face to fall.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that Damon finally chided, "That was a cheap shot, brother."

"I just wanted you to stop talking. And guess what?" He turned to look at his older brother, offering a smile as he finished, "… It worked."

Damon furrowed his brows in thought as he debated whether to say anything. In the end, he decided against it and the drive to the school was quiet.

He pulled up in the car park and Stefan got out the car wordlessly. Damon put the car in reverse, ready to drive back when he noticed Peyton's car still parked up, standing out not purposely, but still strikingly, against the cutesy Mini Coopers, Toyota Prius' and all the other cars typical for a teenager to own. He smiled inwardly; now, not only did she stand out unwillingly in a crowded room to him, but everything down to the car she owned seemed to stand out against the rest. He cursed himself for his lack of willpower as he parked up his car and jumped out, annoyed at the giddy schoolboy feeling that had suddenly taken hold of him. "Hey, Stef- wait up!" He called after his younger brother who was already half away across the quad by the time he reached him. At his brothers suspicious glance, he reasoned aloud "I figured you and Elena might need a ride back." He couldn't quite pinpoint when he had gotten so bad at lying.

* * *

Elena opened her locker as she took out the books she knew she didn't need to use for the day and flung them carelessly into it. Closing the locker she got her phone out of her pocket, reading the message that told her Stefan was at school, on his was to her now… with Damon in tow. Well that was unexpected. Deciding not to question it, she walked down the long empty hallway. School had long since finished and the only people that had remained were a few teachers and the cheer team who were practicing today. As she turned a corner, she heard a scuttling noise, turning her head in the direction of the noise. She frowned; nobody was there. She continued walking until she hear another sound, louder this time; coming from directly ahead of her. But still she saw nothing. She walked at a faster pace now, more anxious to get to Stefan. It was probably nothing; she was probably being stupid. But she knew what was out there now and whilst a few months ago an innocent noise in a deserted hallway would have been just that; innocent, now it promised darker, more sinister things. She made another sharp turn and bumped right into a tall figure catching her completely off guard as she slipped and fell to the floor..

"I'm sorry- I didn't mean to startle you. I'm lost- I was wondering whether you could point me in the right direction? The stranger said as he helped her to her feet and she her heart rate slowly returned to normal. She shook her head, laughing at her own jumpy behaviour as her own eyes met the most stunning green eyes she had ever seen.

"That's ok- I am an idiot." She laughed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Where are you-?" She began when he cut her off.

His breath hitched in his throat as he stared at her in astonishment, "Katherine?" He couldn't believe his eyes but there she was; the same warm, brown eyes, though perhaps less mischievous; the same long chestnut coloured hair, but straighter- maybe she wanted a change.

At her name, he noticed her eyes suddenly lose their warmth, the smile stilled on her lips as she replied hesitantly, "You've got the wrong girl." She tried to walk away but he grabbed her arm forcefully as she let out a small cry of pain.

"Impossible- I'm very good with faces and names. Who are you?" He stared at her menacingly.

"I'm not who you think I am; I'm not Katherine." She gritted her teeth as he squeezed tighter on her arm.

"Yes, I got that- who are you?" He asked again, in a deliberately slow whisper.

"Elena- my name's Elena." She cried as she felt her arm grow weak and limp as the blood stopped flowing past his tight grip.

"Vampire?" He whispered against her neck even as he felt her pulse increase threefold from when he introduced himself.

"Human!" She let out slowly- there was no point pretending. The time for lying had passed and judging from the way he was looking at her, he wouldn't believe a word she said anyway.

"Well there's only one way to be sure." He shrugged casually before he sunk his teeth mercilessly into her neck.

* * *

"Oh come on, why won't you answer?"

"Because this is a stupid game." Stefan replied in frustration.

"It's a simple enough yes or no question- did you and Audrey ever…?"

"Damon." Stefan silenced him with a hand to his chest, stopping him in his tracks as Stefan narrowed his eyes, as his heightened hearing took hold, focusing on the small cries of help in the distance. He recognized the voice instantly, turning to his brother, "Elena." He said as he rushed off in the direction of the sounds with Damon close in tow.

By the time Damon reached the his younger brother, Stefan was already huddled at Elena's side and he arrived just in time to see the attacker gliding round the corner at a speed only a vampire possessed. He shared a quick nod with Stefan, letting him know Elena would be fine, before he rushed off in pursuit.

He came back five minutes later, kicking a trash can over in anger. "He got away." He told them unnecessarily. "Damn it!" He yelled as he walked to the pair. The wound he had spotted on Elena's neck was now nothing more than a small scar. "You couldn't play the damsel in distress just a little longer, could you?"

"How is this my fault?" She snapped back as she held a bandage Stefan offered her to her neck.

"I don't know Elena- easy target? Your mystery attacker seemed to think so." Damon flung his arms violently in the direction the vampire had run off in.

"He thought I was Katherine." She said which seemed to shut Damon up quickly enough.

"Wha-?" He began, speechless.

"What did he say?" Stefan asked, taking over the interrogation Damon was too dumbfounded to continue.

"Nothing." Elena admitted, shaking her head, "He just called me Katherine and then when he realized I wasn't her, he bit me."

"What did he look like?" Damon asked as he finally got over his shock.

Elena shrugged her shoulders, "He was tall, about 6'4, _really_ green eyes, dark brown hair, attractive."

"We're trying to figure out who he is- not set him up on a dating website." Damon began impatiently.

"Back off." Stefan warned, deciding he had given enough leeway on his brother's testy attitude.

"Gee- I'm sorry Stefan, but that description doesn't exactly narrow it down much. That's about a couple of dozen people that we _know _and then hundreds more that Katherine knew before we even met her."

"He had an accent!" Elena suddenly remembered, "Australian maybe."

"That's still way too many vampires in the suspect pool," Damon sighed, as he rubbed his eyes in exhaustion.

Stefan stood from his kneeling position on the ground, placing a hand on Damon's shoulder, "Thats a hell of a lot more information than we had twenty minutes ago. We'll find him." Stefan said in a reassuring manner. And for some reason, to Damon's complete surprise, it did offer him a renewed sense of comfort. Damon nodded his head, watching as Elena warily stood to her feet, he took in her shaken appearance and instantly felt guilty, "I'm sorry." He apologized before he even realized the words had left his mouth, shocking all of them into silence. Before any of them could comment, or perhaps before he said anything else he regretted, he turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Stefan called out.

"He could still be lurking around here." Damon explained as he silently thought to himself _I'm making sure he doesn't hurt anyone else I care about._

He found her outside on the football field laughing with Caroline about something as the girls took a break from the routine they were practicing. He took a seat on the bench near the changing rooms, content to just sit there and watch her. The sun was low in the sky but it framed her face effortlessly. If he closed his eyes and listened intently enough he could drown out all other unwanted voices and focus in on just her laugh. And her cheerleading outfit. Damon swore it definitely shouldn't be legal. Or perhaps the thoughts running through his head of what he wanted to do to her in that outfit were what wasn't legal.

They began to get into formation again and it was then that she noticed him. Granted, he hadn't exactly tried to hide himself, but he felt better about himself watching her in plain sight as opposed to hiding in the shadows like some creepy stalker. It was only then he understood this he still probably looked like a creepy stalker; just one that could be spotted easier. But then again, maybe that was his intention, subconsciously.

She whispered something to Caroline before striding in his direction and he was never more grateful for how far away he was sat; just to watch those long, smooth, toned legs move towards him as her hips swayed, entrancing his gaze. He stood up as she got closer to him, one hand already on her hip as she stared suspiciously at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Admiring the view." He sighed as he took one last look at those legs of hers that seemed to go on for days, dressed in a skirt that was definitely about two inches too short for them.

She narrowed her eyes, "I know you meant that to come across as all flirty and Damon-like, but it just sounded pervy and disturbing."

"Flirty, disturbing- it's such a fine line."

"See, you're the only person I know that could say that." He laughed as he held out his hand for hers to take. He tried not to read too much into it when it took her only a split second to resolve her hesitation and offered her hand to him.

She laughed when she reached his location of choice, "The girls changing rooms, huh? Are we here to fulfil some hot fantasy of yours?"

"Are you offering?" He narrowed his eyes in devilish excitement.

"Only in your dreams- and even dream Peyton doesn't enjoy it."

"Oh, trust me- dream Peyton _definitely _enjoys it. She's very vocal about how much she enjoys it actually." He remarked, as he saw her regret taking this avenue of conversation. "Why don't you let me show you," He began, taking his hand and finding the small of her back, he pulled her flush against him as the palm of his other hand lay flat on her hip, "how much she enjoys it." He whispered as he watched the smile on her face try to hide another look on her face; a look that told him that she wasn't as impenetrable and unaffected by his advances that she would like him to believe.

"Damon."

"Yes sweetheart." He replied as the hand on her back pulled her a little closer to him; her soft, inviting lips a little closer to his.

"Damon," She began again, harsher this time, "We're not making out in the girls changing rooms."

"Why not?" His expression was exactly like one of a petulant child.

"Because… It's the girls changing rooms!" She exclaimed, shoving him away from her.

"Well where do you want to make out- I'll take us there right now!" He screeched in a pitch so high that Peyton thought it was surely not humanly possible to reach. She felt a smile itching to escape her mouth, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing- just the fact that I know you're being 100% serious right now."

"_Hell yes_, I'm being serious." He replied without hesitation.

She smiled widely at him now, "Stop smiling- it's not funny!" He demanded, clearly not seeing the humour in the situation nearly as much as her.

"Sorry!" She said, even though they both knew she didn't mean it, "So why are you here anyway?"

Damon sat down on the bench facing a row of lockers as she sat down next to him. "I was dropping Stefan off here- he wanted to meet Elena."

"For someone who hates his brother you have a strange way of showing it." Peyton remarked. "Dropping him off to see his girlfriend, saving his life…" She listed as she recalled the last truth she had learned from him in the 'I never' game they had played on Nathan's last night in Mystic Falls.

"So because I don't want to see him dead that makes me a good brother? What kind of person do you take me for?"

"I'm not sure, Damon…. You're definitely not a 26 year old guy lurking around high schools and hitting on teenage girls in the changing rooms." She stared at him, waiting for his defence.

"At least I'm not hitting on teenage boys?" Was all he could come up with.

"Yeah- go with that defence in court!" She widened her eyes offering him a less than impressed expression.

"Sorry, not all of us have experience in dealing with the law." He scoffed. She knew he was referring to her confession of being arrested for shoplifting; she wondered how long he was going to hold that one over her head… knowing Damon- more than likely a very long time.

"You really need to let it go."

"You really need to understand you can't _take_ it if it's not yours!" He retorted.

"I hate you." She grumbled.

"No, you don't." He shook his head at her, self-assured. She was about to reply when she heard the sound of chatting girls approaching and turned to Damon, "She's going to kill me for missing the end of practice."

"It's fine- tell her you can practice the end of the routine with me. I'll help you straighten out any mistakes."

"You're really digging the whole cheerleader look, aren't you?" She raised a brow at him.

He shrugged his shoulders, "I think it's the outfit."

"Oh, I _know_ it's the outfit." She countered; every now and then, his eyes would not subtly search her body; as if she were hiding nuclear material that he could only seek out by doing a thorough visual body inspection. She glanced at the door, knowing that in about thirty seconds, half a dozen cheerleaders would be coming into the changing rooms to see her with the resident womanizer of Mystic Falls. His eyes followed her gaze, "Walk you to your car?"

"What's the deal, Salvatore?" She narrowed her eyes at the sweet gesture. "Are you dying or something?"

"It saddens me that a simple act of kindness makes you automatically assume there's some sort of ulterior motive…" He shook his head sadly as he held the door open for her, enjoying the view one last time as she walked past him before falling back in side next to her as they walked toward the car park. "Besides, if I was dying- I'd be trying to get you in the backseat of _my _car, not walking you to yours."

She clicked her teeth together, "Ah! Now, there's the Damon I've come to know and tolerate." He chuckled at the dig. He turned left, holding open another door for her as the cut across the school to get to the main car park. He cleared his throat, as he couldn't help but take a second look at where Elena had been attacked not too long ago.

"Did you go to this school?" Peyton turned to him suddenly.

"What?" He asked, completely thrown off by the question, but answering it nonetheless, "No, why?"

"It's just you seem to know your way around it pretty well is all." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, I see…" He grinned, instantly understanding her line of questioning, "Jealous?"

"Of the countless, brainless bimbos stupid enough to fall for your sleazy platitudes and off hand remarks that they foolishly mistake for genuine compliments… Yeah, I'm going to safely say no, definitely not jealous."

"You do get that Caroline was one of those 'brainless bimbo's as you put it?" He remarked, adding quotation marks.

"I say everyone gets to regret at least one hook-up." Peyton justified in her friend's absence.

"Who's yours?" Damon wondered aloud. She refrained from voicing the thought that immediately came to mind; _You, maybe, if we ever actually get that far._

Instead she shrugged her shoulders, "What about you?"

"I've got only one rule in life." Damon began before Peyton interjected, deadpanning, "Well this ought to be good…."

"My rule," He said, louder this time in an attempt to drown her out "is to have no regrets."

"Wow, how detailed and original of you." She remarked flatly, completely unimpressed. "I figured if you would have one rule in life it would be deny, deny, deny."

He frowned, "I'm not entirely sure what it is exactly that you're accusing me of, but I don't think I like it..."

"Good, you're not meant t- Damn it!" She held out her hand, resting it on his chest to bring him to a halt beside her. "I was meant to wait for Caroline- her car's still in the garage." She whipped out her phone and began texting at a speed he wasn't completely sure he could do as a vampire. A couple of seconds later, she got a text back. "She said she'd meet me at the car." She turned her head to face him, staring as he deliberately looked at her, then down at her hand that was still placed on his torso, "You want to carry on walking or shall I give you another minute to admire my rock hard abs." He grinned at her in a way that was equal parts sexy and infuriatingly annoying. She used the hand still positioned on his shirt to push him away slightly as she continued walking.

By the time they had got outside again, the sun was starting to set in the sky, painting the horizon a dusty light pink. He reached her car before her, opening the driver's door out for her, "My lady." He bowed his head curtly.

"This new Damon is starting to freak me out." Peyton narrowed her eyes slightly in suspicion.

"You prefer the old Damon that stalked you out at cheerleader practice?" Before waiting for an answer, he shook his head, tutting "There's something seriously wrong with you."

"Says Damon Salvatore…"

"And the fact that you have a comeback for everything is way more annoying than it is endearing."

"Says Damon Salvatore…" She repeated, knowing he would see the irony in his own words.

"Stop being so childish!"

"Says Damon Salva-!" She exclaimed triumphantly.

"Relent." He demanded; he meant to sound authoritative but the smile on his face said otherwise and she felt herself easily return it with one of her own. The stood like that, in easy silence, unaware of the prying green eyes observing them with a look of wicked curiosity in the shadows. They didn't notice the sinister smirk on the stranger's face or the plans that he had already formulated on making his presence known to the pair.

Damon pulled out his phone seeing Stefan had left him a message. He glanced back up at the blonde standing opposite him, "Stefan's back at the house- wants to talk." _Three guesses about what,_ Damon thought to himself. "I guess I'll see you around then." Peyton nodded her head, as he turned to walk away. She scrunched her face in anticipation of what she was going to do, decided it probably wasn't a good idea, and then did it anyway. "There's a uh…" She began as he turned around in surprise. She cleared her throat and began again, "It's this guy, Josh's birthday today- I don't really know him but Caroline really wants to go so I'm kind of…" She was rambling on like an idiot so she cut herself off short. "Anyway- it's at the Grill tonight, so."

He furrowed his brows, joking, "I'm sorry- I must've blacked out about half of what you said, because I did not get _any _of that… But what I _think_ just happened, is you asked me on a date." He finished, smirking.

"It's _not _a date." She shook her head vehemently. "It's an open invitation- so not a big deal." At his less than convinced look, she sighed, "It's just, at the very likely possibility that I'm the only single one out of all my friends, I wouldn't mind the company."

"OK, goodbye Peyton." He nodded his head. Frankly, he was grateful of the invitation. Instinctively, he knew another attack was imminent and he felt better when he was around her; at least then he could be sure she was safe. Ensuring her safety was also why he didn't leave until Caroline had arrived and he saw the car speed off down the highway. Whoever this vampire was, they knew Katherine. And if they knew Katherine, knowing his luck, they probably knew him. And that meant Peyton was in danger. He knew it was a leap; but he wasn't about to have her blood on his hands again because of him. This time he was going to protect her; protect her like he should've done the first time.

* * *

"I'll be another 15 minutes- 20 tops!"

"So that means at least another half an hour." Peyton replied knowingly. Caroline simply giggled and hung up the phone as Peyton took another small sip of her drink. She stared at the auburn liquid, frowning down in it. She didn't know when she had started ordering bourbon but she could safely assume it was after she came to Mystic Falls. She did know, however, that whenever she drank it, it reminded her of only one person. The edges of her mouth quirked upward, forming a slight smile as she emptied the rest of the glass.

Raised voices turned her attention to two males arguing behind her; one she recognized as the birthday boy and reason she was here, the other she had never seen before. Soon enough, raised voices became made fists and before she knew it a fight between the pair broke out. Josh threw the first punch but the unnamed man easily deflected it, laying his own fist deep into his opponent's stomach. Peyton watched as the man leaned in, whispering something to the younger boy which seemed to cause the anger to disappear from his face. As quickly as the fight had started, it finished. The man backed away from a curled over Josh and lifted his hands as if to say he didn't want any trouble when some friends of Josh's realized that they were done seeing how the fight played out and it had been one-sided from the start all along.

She turned her head back around as the rest of the onlookers went back to their own business, most disappointed more of a show wasn't put on for them.

She sensed someone moving towards the bar before they even sat down beside her and she knew straight away it was the man who had just knocked out her classmate on his birthday. "I'll have a beer and bourbon for the lady." He wasn't from here; not just Mystic Falls, but the US. His accent gave him away as Australian.

"The lady can buy her own drink." She addressed the bartender before her hazel eyes narrowed sceptically as she got a closer look at the stranger who sat in the seat beside her. He could have been plucked directly from a Hollywood film, with his strong, angular jaw line and chestnut brown, effortlessly tousled hair. But it was his eyes that drew her in, twinkling green beneath his dark, long lashes. They weren't like Damon's mesmerizing icy azure, or Caroline's soft grey-blue. No; his were more sobering, glittering with intelligence and mischief.

"My mistake..." He gave in easily, smiling at her in a way that made her feel automatically uneasy; like he knew something she didn't. "I didn't realize you had a boyfriend."

She breathed in to speak, but quickly bit her tongue, and then started again. "It's not that- I just make a habit of not befriending strangers who have the tendency to randomly get in fights in bars." _Well that just isn't true; you know Damon. _He thought to himself.

Instead of voicing his thoughts though, he grinned cheekily, "In all fairness, he was the one that started it."

"And you finished it."

"If I wanted to finish it, he would've been _far_ worse off." _If I truly wanted to finish it, the boy would've been dead. _Was what he neglected to say. When she donned a completely unimpressed face, he added, "He started it- I don't understand how I'm the bad guy!"

"Why did he start it?" She asked curiously.

"He thought I was flirting with his girlfriend- she was flirting with me, I was simply being polite." He justified, with charm she was sure had made many girls hearts flutter before her. "Was he a friend of yours?"

"No." She replied honestly; she barely knew him, but she was aware that Tyler hated him and she was only there because he invited Matt who was going with Caroline, who wouldn't take no for an answer when she told Peyton that she had to be there too.

"Good, otherwise I would strongly suggest you rethink the company you keep."

"Oh don't worry, I'm definitely doing that..." She remarked causing him to smile.

"Funny, you're boyfriend is one lucky guy." It was a carefully worded comment, that would seem offhand to anyone but him, but it got the result he achieved, steering the conversation exactly where he wanted it.

"It's amazing how you assume the fact that I want to buy my own drink means that I must have a boyfriend."

"Are you saying you don't?" The Australian asked, his eyes widening in expectation.

She hesitated, clearing her throat, "No." A pang of guilt shot through her as she answered, though she couldn't reason why; it was the truth. Still, she added, "… not really."

He choked on his beer, "The beauty of a question like that is it only really has two answers."

He looked at her in an almost taunting way and she frowned, before asking him earnestly "Do _you _have a boyfriend?"

"What?" He arched his eyebrows, "…I'm a… guy."

"There, it doesn't really have two answers, does it?" She countered.

He laughed, "I've got another question with a simple yes or no answer." He continued at her questioning glance, readying himself to use his least favourite vampire given gift. He rarely used compulsion; this was a rare occurrence. He had a justification; it was a way to confirm his suspicions, he reasoned.

"Why don't we get out of here? Go back to my place." He cocked his head in her direction, his eyes entrancing; his voice hypnotic.

A test.

"No." He smiled; a smile reserved more for him than the girl sat beside him.

_So Damon had her on vervain. _She wasn't his plaything, she was the real thing. Which could mean only one thing; he had finally gotten over the bitch that turned him. It was about time, he surmised.

"My mistake… again." He apologized, "Wouldn't want to get on the bad side of another boyfriend in this town… Sorry, nearly boyfriend." He corrected.

She rolled her eyes at his quip, "So tell me, stranger in a bar, what brings you to Mystic Falls?"

"It's Grey."

"The town?"

"My name." His eyes shone a beautiful green.

"Ah." She tsked, "I would've thought it would be green." She paused a second as her mind relived her first meeting with Damon; of how she wouldn't give her name away. But something whispered faintly in her memory that this man wasn't Damon. She didn't feel some instant unspoken connection to him. Somewhere inside her, there wasn't a voice screaming at her not to trust him, whilst another quieter, less vocal one told her to let him in. No, he definitely wasn't Damon. And she needed to get her mind off him, which is why she said "I'm Peyton."

He nodded his head though he had already heard Damon say her name. "Beautiful name."

"My mother seemed to think so." She said in her mild southern accent.

"Smart woman." It was an offhand remark but as he soon as he said it, she tensed slightly.

Her face wore a sad smile as she agreed quietly. _She was. _"So," She cleared her throat; she didn't want to start thinking about her mom, because when she did, it was like opening a floodgate; one that was uncontrollable and seemingly unending. "Why are you here, Grey?"

He took the hint; she wanted to change the subject and he was more than happy to oblige. Besides, he could never understand grief or loss; he could never relate. He was probably one of the few individuals in the world fortunate to never lose someone he truly loved, (current situation, of course, not included.). Then again there was truly only one person in the world he loved.

"I'm visiting a friend- he moved here and I haven't seen him in a while."

"You know how long you're staying?"

He shook his head, "It really depends on him- he doesn't know I'm coming."

"Does he have a girlfriend? Because, just as a tip between you and me, I probably wouldn't hit on her. It kind of pisses guys off." He laughed at the irony that she just couldn't appreciate.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Grey's face followed her gaze as she watched the bar began to slowly fill with more of her classmates, some she knew, some she didn't. But still none of them were Caroline… Or Damon.

He could sense her disappointment, "Almost-boyfriend stand you up?"

She turned her head away from the door and back towards him, "What's your obsession with 'almost boyfriend'?"

"I just want to know if I have any competition." He told her almost matter-of-factly.

"It's not a competition. My quota for strangers in a bar that become more than just a stranger is one a lifetime. I'm afraid you just missed the boat."

"Maybe I could be the exception." He offered.

_Damon was the exception. _Whilst he was good enough company for now, she was never going to let this man anywhere near as close to her heart as Damon had managed; though even she couldn't pinpoint exactly how close it was Damon had gotten. "Unlikely."

"Why, you don't trust me?"

"I don't trust anybody." She answered back simply. "Runs in the family." She exhaled, "Sawyer trait."

It was said so casually that he almost skimmed right past the comment. He backtracked; the name. Sawyer. That name was ringing alarm bells in his head; he knew that name. _How did he know that name?_ Peyton Sawyer. He had never met her before; he was good with faces. Though he was also good with names and he found himself stalling on hers. He knew he needed more information, "Sawyer sounds familiar- you're not a founding family of Mystic Falls are you?" He knew she wasn't.

"No," She frowned, silently questioning how someone that wasn't from Mystic Falls knew about its founding families. "I'm not originally from here- I was born and grew up in Tree Hill."

And just like that he knew exactly why he knew the name. Everything seemed to click into place; Tree Hill, Sawyer. She was Larry Sawyer's daughter. Of course Damon would get involved with a renowned vampire hunter's daughter. Who else? His eyes glanced around her neck, then hands, until they landed on the simple silver chain hanging innocently from her wrist. He paid no attention to the fact that she had been on vervain when he assumed it was Damon that had been the one to ensure she was on it. But now he surmised that it was her father that had given it to her. The only question that remained was whether she knew the kind of world she had been living in all her life.

"Why did you move to Mystic Falls?"

It was a question she had heard so many times before she had practically rehearsed the vague response to a t. "I needed a change and my dad used to live here when he was a kid so he suggested I move here."

Grey nodded his head slowly in contemplation, as the blonde interrupted his thoughts, asking, "Tell me Grey, why is it every time that you ask a question it feels like I'm giving you way more information in my answers than I actually am?"

He smiled; she was perceptive, he would give her that. "Because you're paranoid?" He deflected the question back at her.

She definitely was paranoid but that didn't change the fact that, more or less from the second he sat down next to her and began speaking to her, everything felt more like an interrogation than a conversation. "Who are you?" She asked suspiciously as he realized that there were walls built sky high around this girl.

"I'm just a guy in town visiting an old friend." He was lying; and he knew she could tell. But before she could call his bluff, as he was sure she would, both were caught by surprise as Damon appeared at Peyton's side, his jaw clenching and unclenching. Damon's face grew dark as he eyed down the vampire that had been making his life a living hell for the past few weeks, whilst the remnants of a smile faded from Grey's face.

The silence seemed to stretch for days before Peyton finally broke it, clearing her throat, "Damon, this is-" She began before Damon's fist flew from his side, connecting with Grey's cheek. "-Grey." He finished for her.

She really should have been more surprised. But as she watched Damon's fist uncoil and return to his side and Grey's thumb wiped away the trail of blood that had begun to trickle from his lip she could see even Grey wasn't that surprised. He was amused if anything as he breathed out a small chuckle. "You two know each other." She sighed.

"Peyton meet the old friend I'm here to visit." Grey gestured to a still seething Damon.

"I can only assume you are using the term 'friend' loosely at this point." She glanced at Damon; she couldn't ever remember seeing him this pissed off before.

"I probably deserved that." He laughed good-heartedly, as if Damon had just played some childish prank on him as opposed to punching him right across the face…. And from the look of Damon's face, that was only a taster of what he wanted to do.

"How long have you been here?" Damon finally spoke up, albeit through gritted teeth. Damon knew that Grey understood the question as he smiled briefly, "Long enough." So it was definitely Grey. He was the one behind the rising body count in Mystic Falls, the one that had been taunting the founder's council and bit Elena today.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you- it's been a while." Grey answered honestly as he licked the remainder of the blood that had collected on the inside of his mouth; _though apparently not long enough._

"Where's Summer?"

He flinched and Peyton noticed for the first time that night, the façade slip away from his face, "She couldn't make it."

Damon turned to Peyton who had otherwise been relatively silent, "Sorry I was late." He spoke softly as she noted the anger fade form his features.

Peyton shook her head, "You weren't late- we didn't set a time." He could have laughed; the whole reason he hadn't got there sooner was because Stefan was biting his ear off about how they needed to find whoever was killing all these people (though he figured it had more to do with Grey's encounter with Elena than the safety of the town). And all along, if he had just come to meet Peyton, his questions would have been answered. He wondered why it was that trouble seemed to follow Peyton around wherever she went. Or maybe it was him trouble followed; lately he was finding he couldn't quite distinguish the lines that had blurred between the two of them.

"Come, sit- I'll buy us all a drink. We can catch up." Grey said as he turned to the bartender and ordered a round of drinks for the three of them. Damon cautiously, almost reluctantly, sat down in the empty seat on the other side of Peyton. In between the pair; one sullen, the other surprisingly upbeat, she felt like a referee between two children on a timeout.

"How long have you been here?" Translation; _how long were you with him?_

"Not long."

"Don't worry, I kept her company." Grey offered as he leaned forward; Peyton wasn't sure if it was meant to sound reassuring, but if it was, it definitely didn't work. "Oh come on, Damon- I don't understand why you're being so cold. You have nothing to worry about. Stefan was the one that was always after your girls, not me."

"You call me 'Damon's girl' again and you'll get a nice matching bruise on the other side of your face." Peyton scowled as Damon bit down on the smile that he was sure if she saw, would only make her angrier.

"You'll have to excuse her- it annoys her when-"

Damon began to speak over to Grey when Peyton cut him off abruptly, snapping. "… People talk about her like she's not in the room?"

"Short temper." Damon whistled.

"Says the guy who just punched his friend." She remarked, to which Grey added using her words from earlier. "I was definitely using friend in the looser sense of the word."

"See," Damon stared deliberately at Peyton, "I told you I have friends."

"We seriously need to work on your definition of a 'friend." Peyton furrowed her brows.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Caroline doesn't bitch slap me every time she sees me." Peyton exclaimed, as if it really needed clarifying.

"I'd probably like her a lot more if she did…" He muttered into his drink, as Peyton shot him daggers with her eyes. She turned her head toward Grey, "So how long have you two known each other?"

"We met years ago- a hundred at least."

"At least it feels like it." Damon chipped in suddenly, offering Grey a measured glance. _Well, that answered that question- she definitely didn't know who they were, or who her father was for that matter._

"Right…" Grey agreed, smiling. "So, how is your delightful little brother doing these days?"

"Goes to school with Peyton actually." Damon told him, aware that the last time Grey had seen Stefan it was the early 1900's he had fallen off the wagon and was on a ripper binge. "He lives with me at the boarding house."

Grey almost choked on his drink, "You two live together now!" He laughed, "There's something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime."

"Things change." Damon answered.

"Evidently." He returned, glancing sideways at Peyton before taking another swig of his beer.

"What about you? What brings you to boring old Mystic Falls?" Damon asked, though admittedly, boring old Mystic Falls had considerably more action since Grey's appearance.

"Funny, I was going to ask you the same question."

"This was my home once." He answered, though he knew that wouldn't convince Grey anymore than it was convincing him. He would always come back to Mystic Falls, but he would never stay; never for this long. And Grey had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the teenage girl sat between the pair. "What about you two- how long have you known each other?" Grey returned the question to Peyton.

"Almost half a year now." Peyton answered. "So, not quite as long suffering as you, but…"

"You two actually have quite a lot in common." Damon commented aloud.

"He won't have sex with you either?" She asked flatly while Grey laughed.

"You don't have to lie on his account, sweetheart."

"I'm not…" His cocky expression made her add, "He's got prettier eyes than you too."

"You've got a terrible poker face." Damon smiled at her genuinely, his eyes shining that damn beautiful blue as she fixed him with a look of mild irritation.

"Hate to interrupt, but seeing as you're back at the boarding house, you wouldn't mind lending an old friend a room to stay in for the night?" Grey asked.

"Of course I wouldn't mind- let me know if you see one?" Damon scowled.

"Oh come on, Damon!"

"Like I said- I'm staying with Stefan now."

"Your point?"

"Elena told me some guy hit on her today that sounded a hell of a lot like you." At Grey's dumbfounded expression, Damon continued, "Elena is Stefan's girlfriend- I believe you met her at school. Long brown hair, pretty little face."

It suddenly clicked, "Elena…"

Peyton scoffed, "You're really going to town today- that's two guy's you've pissed off today for hitting on their girlfriends."

"Two and a half at least." Grey smiled and she knew immediately from his suggestive tone what he meant.

"Anyway," Damon continued, "needless to say, I doubt Stefan will be pulling out the welcome wagon anytime soon."

"And now you care about your brothers feelings; things really _do_ change."

Peyton glanced across the room as she heard, before seeing, her friend enter. "Ah, there's Tyler" She spied, squinting slightly as she imagined something with him, "and what's that with him? … Oh, I think… Yeah, it's my cue to leave." She jumped up off the seat, turning to Damon, "Try not to get into anymore fights," though even as she said it, she figured it would be advice more apt for Grey. As she walked away, Grey called out to her, as she swivelled around on the spot, "It's way more than an almost." He told her as Damon glanced between the two, watching Peyton's brows furrow as she walked away, her face contemplative.

Damon turned to face Grey, feeling able to talk more freely but already missing Peyton's company. "Take it you've been the one dropping off little presents to the founder's council then?"

Grey shrugged his shoulders innocently, "I figured you'd join me- how was I meant to know that you'd done a 180 and pulled a Stefan."

"I wouldn't go quite that far." Damon shuddered at the thought, "I'm just not the psychotic killer you knew forty years ago."

"Shame- that guy was a blast." Grey sighed inwardly.

"What are you really doing here, Grey?" Damon sighed, knowing this had to be more than just a casual fly-by visit.

"Nothing… Truly!" Grey held his hands above his head in defence.

"And Summer?"

He watched Grey swallow, before taking another swig of his beer, "Like I said, she's not around."

"What happened?"

Grey glanced at Damon and wondered that maybe drowning his sorrows with the one true friend he had in all his existence as a vampire wasn't the real reason he had come to Mystic Falls to seek Damon out "She just needs some time." He answered simply. He was a vampire; time was the one thing; probably the only thing he could offer in ample supply. So if she needed time, he would give it to her.

"Elena?" He asked, moving the subject on quickly from one vampire to another, or human he supposed.

"Doppelganger- we have no idea how or why…" Damon answered.

"Did you open it?" _The tomb._

"Yeah." The wistful reply came quietly and Grey didn't need to ask anything else. He knew with that one word what Damon wouldn't say, couldn't say. She wasn't there.

"Self-serving bitch." Grey sighed, as he shook his head in anger, "I told you she'd break your heart."

"You were right; you're always right." Grey was the only person Damon had told; about 1864, his brother, Katherine, the tomb and the plan to get her out.

Damon lifted his head instinctively as he heard Peyton's laugh carry across the room and Grey began again, "I take it- you've done your research?"

"I'm sure you have." He replied as Damon rubbed his eyes warily, unsure if he wanted to hear any other unwelcome truths about Peyton revealed.

Grey took it as an invitation, "Peyton Sawyer, born in Tree Hill until she moved here about five months ago and now she lives by herself." Of course he followed her home, Damon grinded his teeth angrily. "She wears vervain but doesn't know about vampires," he paused, informing him "I learned that little fact from you. The vervain bracelet, I assumed was given by you until I heard her last name. Sawyer. Her father's a hunter."

"You know him?" Damon's eyes shot up, his interest piqued.

"I met him once in Chicago a couple of years ago. I let him walk away alive which was probably an error on my part, but…" he could see his friend considering what he was saying, interrupting his thoughts by adding, "Don't be mistaken; he's strong, and powerful and more important than both those qualities is he's smart."

"What else do you know about him?" He saw it; it lasted only a fraction of a second, but Damon saw Grey hesitate. As if he was considering whether to say anything at all.

"His family originates back to the founding families; his ancestors were the Chambers, they lived in Mystic Falls around the same time as you and Stefan."

"I know this," Damon said, "The family perished in a fire- a boy survived and was quietly adopted by another family. It all makes for a fascinating bedtime story." He waved his hand dismissively.

"Damon," The green eyed brown-haired man stared at his friend incredulously, "Have you not stopped to question the obvious strangeness of what you dug up? The timing of the suspicious fire? Why, if there was a survivor, would they hide that fact from everybody?"

"Do you just want to tell me instead of sitting there looking so smug?"

"They were hunters- the Chamber's family. Killed in a fire, some would say a harsh irony considering that's one of the few ways a vampire can die. Killed _just_before… Katherine arrived."

Damon shook his head in disbelief, "What are you saying, that Katherine killed them?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. And the boy didn't want the vampires living in his town to know that they hadn't ended the entire hunter bloodline, so he hid. Smart little boy." Grey declared as he played with the bottle in his hands. "Anyway, long story short- kid grew up, became a hunter- had a girl who became a hunter. Lather, rinse repeat."

"Which brings us to Larry Sawyer." Damon grimaced; things were definitely far worse than he had first thought.

"Like I said, powerful, strong and smart."

"Peyton doesn't know- he didn't want that for his kid."

Grey laughed, "Would you?"

Damon buried his head in his hands, momentarily giving in to the gravity of the situation. Now he was keeping not only his own secrets from her, but her own father's. Before he had time to wallow any further, shouts of anger across the room alerted his attention. He frowned turning his head as he saw Tyler punch someone as Peyton tried to calm him down, holding him back.

Grey chuckled from were he sat, "It's his birthday- the poor guy just can't catch a break."

Damon rose from his seat without thinking, turning to his friend, "You coming to help?"

"I've been on the sending and receiving end of two too many fists today. I think I'll pass."

Damon sighed as he ran across the room easily pulling Tyler off an aggravated teen who was trying but desperately failing to land his own punch. "Dude, back the hell off." Tyler lashed out, trying to free himself from Damon's grip on him.

"_Dude?" _He almost spat in disgust, "People _need_ to learn to stop saying dude." Damon scrunched his face together in disapproval, pushing Tyler away from the crowd that had gathered and out of the bar as Peyton followed. "I'm fine, get off me!" Tyler shouted as he shoved Damon away walking a couple of steps away as his sore, bloody knuckles cooled against the night air.

"Tyler, what the hell is wrong with you?" Peyton exclaimed as Tyler just remained silent, huffing as the anger began to subside.

"I'll leave you to it." Damon cut in awkwardly as he began to make his way back inside.

"Damon." She called as he turned his head. She hesitated, staring at Tyler's turned back and then back to Damon, "Thank you." She mimed. He nodded his head, offering a small smile before heading back into the Grill. She sighed, at a loss for words for her friend. She had never seen him just lash out completely unprovoked before; even if the guy was a dick, he didn't deserve that completely unwarranted attack. "Come on." She finally found herself say.

His back was still to her as he said to her sadly, almost desperately, "I've got nowhere to go."

"Yeah you do." She knew he still hadn't gone back home and Matt was with Caroline. She sighed. "You're staying at mine."

Damon re-entered the bar and once again it seemed like normal business had resumed as the teenagers had spread back around the room, with no more fights to draw their attention. He found Grey exactly where he had left him. "So, are you coming or what?" It was enough for Grey to swallow down the rest of his drink and get up as Damon shook his head in anticipation, "Stefan's not going to be happy."

"Name one time Stefan has been happy… like _ever_."

Damon grinned at the remark; so maybe having an old friend around wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

* * *

**AN: So, I know that I am taking the storyline very slowly with Damon and Peyton and I just want you to know I appreciate all your patience (if I was reading a ff with a couple I really wanted to get together, I would probably be going crazy!). So thank you for that and again a MASSIVE thanks to everyone who reads, favourite, story alerts, reviews and just generally likes reading my story! It makes me sooo happy, so I can't say it enough! As always, I hope you liked the chapter and I shall speak to you in my next update! Thanks!**


	17. The fire in your heart is out

**Author's Note: The chapter would've come out sooner but I went to London for a week and I'm currently half way through the 3rd Game of Thrones book of the series (they are so amazing and I strongly recommend everyone to read the books and watch the series if you haven't already!) I hope you like the chapter- plenty of Damon/Peyton togetherness in this chapter. Btw, don't own the characters in TVD, OTH or Oasis' Wonderwall song (chapter name). Please don't let me stop you any further...**

* * *

She stepped out of the shower, walking to the bathroom sink as she wrapped a towel around her dripping body. She carefully wiped away the steam that had fogged up the mirror with the side of her arm and looked at the person staring back at her. "Two days." She whispered to herself. She bit down on her lip to stop her eyes from tearing up as she closed her eyelids heavily.

* * *

Peyton collapsed down next to Tyler on the sofa as he played video games, never taking his eyes off the TV. "Are you ever going to talk to me about it?" She eventually asked, breaking the silence when she decided that she could no longer take on the 'wait until he's ready' approach that she had been adopting for the last couple of days.

He gave her a dumfounded look making her scoff, "Don't play stupid."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He replied with his eyes still focused in intense concentration at the TV screen as he took out a foot soldier with a rifle from a nearby roof.

"Tyler-" She began.

"Tell you what- I'll tell you why I'm upset as soon as you tell me why you are." He offered her, glancing to her briefly before turning his attention back to his game.

"I'm not-"

"Yeah, you are. You've been blasting your music, slamming doors and been dodging Caroline's calls as much as I've been dodging my mom's." Tyler informed her, leaving her completely speechless. "You're not as discreet as you think you are." He hit pause on the game and turned his attention to Peyton. She opened her mouth then closed it again, deciding against arguing with him.

"So, you first." When she remained silent he nodded his head, "That's what I thought." He hit play and turned back to the TV.

* * *

The undeniable smell of blood woke Damon from his slumber; and not the rabbit blood he was so accustomed to smelling in the house. No; this smelt stronger, sweeter and all together more mouth-watering. Without even thinking he was out of his bed and within a few seconds he was headed for the door in the direction of the scent. Before long he found himself on the third floor of the boarding house. He stopped at the foot of the stairs as his ears pricked up. It didn't take long for him to deduce that the second door in on the left had somebody in it and he could barely control himself as he flashed at vampire speed through the door and stood silently behind the bleeding girl that stood motionless, staring absently out the window. He titled his head in confusion, expecting something altogether more dramatic than this sight. Before he had the chance to surprise the mystery houseguest, she turned her head around, staring blankly at him before her eyes registered something resembling recognition, "You're Damon."

"You're in my house… bleeding." He glanced at the wound on her neck and knew straight away it could only be caused by one person currently occupying the third floor of the house. Grey suddenly appeared from the bathroom, holding a glass of blood. He handed it to the girl wordlessly, before turning to his friend. "Damon, what a pleasant surprise."

"What's going on here?" Damon asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the girl before turning back to Grey.

"Oh, how rude of me... Damon, this Ally. Ally, Damon."

"Yeah, not exactly what I meant." He frowned as he watched her drink the dark liquid causing the marks on her neck to gradually disappear from view like they were never there to begin with.

"I should go- I've got work in a couple of hours." The girl Damon only knew as Ally told Grey.

"Of course- I'll see you in a couple of days." Grey nodded, walking her out, as Damon followed wordlessly behind them. When the girl had left, Damon stood arms outstretched still waiting for a decent explanation.

Grey shrugged his shoulders, "I met her a few years ago- her mother was a good friend of mine."

"It wasn't really the how you met her that was baffling me."

"She very kindly agrees to offer some of her blood." Grey offered the explanation Damon was so obviously hinting at.

"For what?"

"For me to drink."

"No, really?!" He responded sarcastically, before asking "What do you give her in return? I hope its not sexual favour's- Summer would _not_ be too happy about that."

"I give her nothing." At Damon's suspicious glare, he shrugged his shoulders casually, "I just happen to have a very charming personality."

"Wait, let me get this straight- this girl gives you her blood, uncompelled, and you give her nothing in return?" Grey nodded in response as Damon shook his head, "wouldn't it be easier to just compel and feed like every other normal vampire."

"You know I don't do that. I haven't compelled anyone in over 250 years; I don't plan on starting to now."

"I know- it just seems a bit excessive." Damon remarked.

"Nobody should have the power to take someone's free will away from them, especially not us. People should think what they want to think, feel what they're entitled to feel." Damon found it funny how his friend had no qualms about cold blooded murder, but for some reason compulsion seemed to really strike a nerve. Maybe one day he would ask Grey about it. "After all we're monsters, not gods." His friend finished.

"Please don't tell me you've found religion now." Damon rolled his eyes.

He smirked in response, "Don't worry- you're safe on that front."

"Anyway, I was going to head to some bar, get drunk, maybe bring back a girl to get drunk on. Want to join? I'd _love_ to see how you charm a girl's blood out of her."

Grey laughed, "I can't- I've got to see a couple of people in town." He looked down at his watch, "I'm actually running late- I'll be back at about nine if you want to do something then."

"You've only been here a couple of days- who could you possibly have to see?" But Grey was already walking out the door, "This whole partners in crime thing I'd been counting on when I invited you to stay here has been working out real great." Damon shouted out to him, not expecting a reply as he shook his head and walked back up to his room.

* * *

She thought she would be undisturbed here. The library was quiet and almost always empty and she would come whenever she wanted to be by herself. So she arrived soon after her talk with Tyler, pulling out her sketchpad and mindlessly she began to draw whatever her fingers wanted to. Unfortunately her place of solace remained that for only half an hour before she was discovered. "Oh good- so you _are_alive." Caroline stood with her arms folded across her chest as she watched Peyton put whatever she was working on back in her bag and looked at her friend. When Peyton remained silent, Caroline huffed before sitting in the seat across the table from her.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." Caroline pursed her lips, staring expectantly at her friend. When Peyton didn't say anything else, Caroline began again, "Hey Caroline, I'm so sorry I missed cheerleading practice and haven't been answering your calls, and have just been a crappy friend in general these last few days… What, nothing to say?"

"I think you pretty much summed everything up." Peyton answered, though she knew she wasn't going to be let off the hook that easily.

"Where the hell have you been?!"

"At home. I've been busy. Tyler's been staying over and-

"Yeah, I know," Caroline said, not letting her finish what was a very lame excuse on her part, "You know _how _I know? …Because Tyler actually _answers_ my calls."

"Caroline, I'm sorry." She apologized, though she knew it was too little too late at this point.

"I don't want an apology- I want to know what the hell's been going on with you! Why have you been MIA?"

"I don't want to get into it! Can we just drop it?"

She answered, persistent as ever. "No, we can't. You're pushing me away- why?"

She wanted to tell Caroline she was wrong; she wasn't pushing her away; she was pushing everyone away. Nathan had text her several times and when she hadn't answered him, he had rung her and even then she hadn't answered. She would be avoiding Tyler if she could, but he was constantly on his Wii and she'd inevitably see him every time she left her bedroom. So Caroline really shouldn't be taking it personally- she wasn't singling her out; she didn't want to see anyone.

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked again; the concern would have been touching if it didn't make Peyton so angry. She just needed space. She needed to breathe. What she didn't need was Caroline hunting her down to make sure she was okay.

"Caroline, I can't do this right now." She tried to say calmly, but even she could hear a hint of irritation creeping into her own voice.

"Can't do what? Talk to your friend."

"Yes! I can't talk to you! I don't want you hassling me. I just want to be left alone!" She realized she was shouting but she didn't care. And if the librarian came to tell her to be quiet, Caroline wouldn't be the only person on her bad side today. Suddenly, she was walking away as Caroline ran to catch up with her; she finally did outside the building at the steps.

"I'm your friend- I'm not going to just leave you alone."

"Well too bad I'm not asking you. I'm telling you!" Peyton's face grew darker as her face set in a determined look as she walked away.

She found herself at a bar all too quickly; not the Mystic Grill. No, there were too many people there that knew her- too many people that went to school with her. Besides, she really didn't want to have another run in with Caroline. She knew she had been harsh, probably undeservedly so, but she didn't want to talk to anyone. Right now, the beer occupying her left hand was the only friend she wanted for company. Her phone began buzzing and without checking to see who it was, she turned it off. Luckily; with it being a Sunday afternoon, the place was empty bar the bartender. She sighed as she sank further into her seat, her mind wrestling with the memories that had spurred the current mood she was in.

After she had practically dragged Tyler back to hers, her dad had rang her. She could count the total number of times she had spoken to her dad in almost half a year on one hand. She loved her dad; he was the only family she had left. But she couldn't help the resentment that she was starting to feel that accompanied every phone call. She missed him. She needed him.

And he wasn't there. _He's never here._

But more than the resentment she held to her dad, was the anger she felt at herself. She had left Tree Hill and cut herself off from everyone she grew up with, with the exception of Nathan who had to practically claw himself back into her life. She felt _so _alone. And there was nobody else to blame for that but her.

* * *

The loud, persistent banging on the door stopped for half a second before it began again, stronger than ever. It took a couple of minutes before the door swung open and Caroline halted her hand mid knock, mere inches from Stefan's face.

"Oh." Her hand dropped to her side, "Hi Stefan- is Damon here?"

Stefan furrowed his brows; Caroline coming for a swing by visit for him was odd enough, but to visit Damon was a whole other story. "He's gone out."

"Do you know where I can find him?" She asked, annoyed at his lack of presence. She could always trust Damon to be her constant disappointment.

"I'm not sure. You want me to pass on a message?" Stefan offered.

"Sure, tell him I'm looking for him." She paused realizing that if the roles were reversed, that would do anything but make her seek him out, so she added, "Tell him it's about Peyton."

Before Stefan had chance to ask if she was okay Caroline had already left; she didn't have time to talk. She was on a mission; and it started with finding Damon.

* * *

She had lost count of how much she had to drink by the time he came. She wondered why was it that they seemed to find each other in their darkest hours. She decided to ask him.

"We always find each other- dark hour or not." He finally answered as he sat across from her.

She refused to look at him, instead deciding to look past him, over his left shoulder at the framed photograph that hung amongst dozens of others that decorated the walls of the seedy bar she had stumbled across. One photograph stood out to her. The frame pictured a stretch of field, with a girl standing off centre, her body turned away from the lens. She stood alone holding a white balloon, looking up at the blood red sky. In an instant, she imagined her own body in her place. She was that girl.

"How _did_ you find me?"

"Caroline." It was all he had to say. He couldn't help but laugh. That girl, for all her annoying qualities, loved her friends. And when they were hurting, she would do everything in her power to make sure they were okay. Even if that meant turning to him for help. When he had come back from the Grille, Stefan was at home just about to leave when he passed on the message of Caroline's visit to the boarding house. When he went to her house, all she said was that Peyton was upset and she couldn't get through to her. That was all it took; well, that a quick search of listed bars in Mystic Falls that he had never heard of before. He found her in the fifth one on the list.

"What are you doing here?" He shook his head, "the drunken mess look doesn't suit you." When Peyton finally turned to look up at him, she immediately wished she hadn't. The way he was looking at her; it was as if she had grown two heads.

"Figured I'd take a leaf out of your book." She replied acridly.

"Nice- hit me where it hurts. My weakness for alcohol." He responded coolly, completely unaffected by the dig.

"Shut up, Damon." She sighed aloud.

"Apparently alcohol does nothing to improve your wit."

"Damon, just get out." She scowled. He was pushing her for a reaction- a real one. One that might give away the real reason for her anger. Well, he wasn't going to get one. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

When she said nothing else, he rolled his eyes at her. "Oh come on- we've done this dance before already. You're upset; you lash out at me, hoping it will push me away. When it doesn't, you apologize and tell me what's wrong. Why don't we skip all that middle stuff and go straight to the 'you telling me what happened' part." If looks could kill, Damon would've dropped dead right there on the spot at the glare Peyton gave him, telling him exactly what she thought of his offer.

"She shouldn't have called you." Was all Peyton said as she gestured for another bottle of beer. Damon bit his lip just as he was about to order a bourbon; now wasn't the time he realized. He had to be the responsible one seeing as she seemed intent on drinking herself into oblivion. _The idea alone felt odd to him_, he shuddered_._

"She was worried about you." She rolled her eyes as she opened the bottle handed to her and Damon shot a look of anger at the bartender for continuing to ply her with alcohol. He supposed he could tell him that she was underage but then any hopes of her opening up to him would be dashed.

He sighed as he leaned back in the seat, folding his arms across his chest determinedly. "Fine, I get it, you don't want to talk. I'll wait."

"I don't want you to wait- I just want to be left alone."

He shrugged his shoulders in response which only angered her more. He watched her, for how long he couldn't say; sit sullenly in silence, before finishing yet another bottle.

"What happened?" He tried again. At her silence he growled in frustration, "Fine, I'll guess." She stared with an intense concentration at the napkin and the watermark left by the beer bottle. As much as she didn't want to play this game, she definitely didn't want to break her silence, so she remained mute as he began. "Let's see… It could be a birthday or anniversary." His eyes never left her face as he looked for any telltale sign of change. Nothing. "It could be your dad..." Her eyes fluttered closed for just a second before her face donned an unaffected mask. It happened so quick that he could've he imagined it, but he knew he didn't. "That's it, isn't it? It's your dad." He didn't need her to say anything. He could tell just by the change in her position that he had already identified the cause of her sadness. "Did he ring you?"

For the first time since he had found her she looked up to meet his eyes, but they were no longer angry. It was much worse than that. They looked defeated. "Damon I can't do this."

"Peyton-" He began softly.

"No." She shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper, "I don't want your consolation or your pity. I just… I can't-" She was so tired.

"OK." He nodded his head slowly in understanding. He got it. She needed to be alone; he couldn't afford her that luxury of course. At the rate she was going, she'd be unconscious in no time and he wasn't about to leave her in a strange bar where anyone could take advantage of her. But he would give her her silence if that was what she wanted.

So that was how they sat for what was well over an hour. She drank and he pretended not to notice. He sent texts, played games on his phone; he basically did everything but stare at her even whilst, the whole time, he was watching her out the corner of his eye. He didn't mention anything when she rushed to the toilet and staggered out, sweaty and pale white.

"I think I want to leave now." She said weakly. So he got up wordlessly. He was driving her back; no argument would be had about that and Peyton seemed to accept it readily. She unsteadily rose to her feet, refusing the hand he offered her as he led the way outside. She found herself disorientated as her eyes adjusted from the dank dim of the bar to the pale skies outside.

The drive back was a blur. She remembered him opening the window when she threatened that she was going to be sick, but she never did. She thought she could remember the car slowly coming to a halt, but they may have just been a red light he was stopping at. Before long, the darkness enveloped her as sleep claimed her heavy lids.

* * *

She woke the next morning and breathed in fabric softener that smelled of lavender and lilies. The sheets were fresh and crisp, and the bed positioned in the centre of the room; and all at once she realized she wasn't in her own bed. She shot up as flashes of the day before came back to her in pieces. Her fight with Caroline. The bar. Damon. _Damon_. _Was she in his bed?_ _Oh, god, please no, _she thought desperately to herself. Wearily, grudgingly, she opened an eye and then the other. She looked around the room and relief washed over her. Caroline- she was at Caroline's.

Without waiting for invitation she left the spare room she had slept in for the night, crossed the dark hallway and entered Caroline's room. She looked down at Caroline's form sprawled out on her bed and wordlessly joined her.

"How's your head?" Peyton jumped, almost falling off the edge of the bed.

"I thought you were sleeping." She clutched at her chest as Caroline rolled over to face Peyton.

"You thought or you hoped?"

"Both." Peyton admitted quietly. "I'm sorry about last night… and for avoiding your calls."

"That's okay." Caroline smiled easily that made Peyton feel instantly guilty. That was how quickly Caroline forgave her for biting her head off without cause or reason. _When had she become such a terrible friend?_ She asked herself. She supposed Brooke might be able to answer that question for her, but she wasn't so sure she wanted the answer. "You feel better?"

Peyton considered the question. Honestly, no. Nothing had changed from yesterday, except today she had a terrible hangover to accompany her self pity. When she arrived back at her flat, no father would greet her, no mother would hug her. The only link she had to Tree Hill was Nathan and she was even failing that friendship given how many missed calls must be on her phone from him when she finally turned it back on. She was _far _from okay. But she didn't want to burden Caroline with all of that. So she answered as truthfully as she could without worrying her friend anymore than she already had, "Better than yesterday."

Caroline nodded her head, though her face told Peyton she still wasn't entirely convinced. "So, what am I doing here?" Peyton changed the subject.

"Damon dropped you off last night. You were pretty out of- he carried you all the way to the spare room and told me to keep an eye on you so you didn't choke in your own vomit or anything."

"That's disgusting." Peyton grimaced.

"His words, not mine." Caroline shrugged her shoulders innocently. "You know, it's funny…"

"What's that?" Peyton asked curiously.

Then Caroline said something she never thought she would say. "I almost like him when he's around you."

* * *

Peyton turned the key in the lock to find Tyler exactly where she had left him the day before. She frowned as she walked over to the open kitchen area and began to empty the grocery bags to unload them in the fridge. "Heard you got into a fight with Caroline yesterday." Tyler called to her from the where he lay lazily.

"Who told you?" Peyton asked as he joined her and inspected the contents of one of the paper bags before transferring the ready made meals into the freezer.

"Caroline. Who else?" Peyton nodded her head knowingly in response. _Of course._ "You know, if you needed a drinking partner, I would've gladly offered." Tyler continued as he opened a bag of chips. At Peyton's questioning glance, Tyler explained, "You don't normally don the black shades…" He pointed to her sunglasses that she had thrown on the kitchen counter, "… And you look like hell."

"You really know how to sweet-talk a girl, huh?"

"I'm a charmer, what can I say?" He smiled as she rolled her eyes, jumping onto the worktop counter and lay her hands in her head, trying to focus on anything but the headache that made it feel very much like her head was literally splitting in two. When she lifted her head up she noticed a glass of water and two little white pills placed on the worktop beside her.

"Charmer- no. Ninja- maybe…" She remarked, stunned at how silently he had moved around her without her even noticing. Though maybe her banging headache had something to do with that.

"Look, about me staying here. If you want me to leave, I can find somewhere els-"

"What are you talking about?" Peyton frowned in confusion. "Where is this coming from?"

"Yesterday- I get you probably want your space, and I-"

"Tyler" Peyton waved a hand to stop him talking, "I don't want you to leave. When I was asking you if you wanted to talk, it was just that. I wasn't hinting anything." She explained.

"OK, good!" He breathed a sigh of relief. "I feel bad crashing at Matt's when he won't even let me give him any rent and all my other friends' parents would just tell my dad as soon as I showed up. Being the mayor's son really has its downsides."

"Oh the burden's you must face…" Peyton commented dryly.

"Can I take this to mean sarcastic Peyton is back?"

"Sure," Peyton jumped from the counter, "she'll be back just as soon as hungover Peyton gets some sleep." She walked to the door before turning back to Tyler, "For future reference- you can stay as long as you want. I'd never ask you to leave." Tyler nodded his head, grinning, "See you in a couple of hours, sleeping beauty."

Peyton entered her room, falling to her bed. She was seconds from drifting off when her phone rang. She considered ignoring it but then remembered that she had been doing too much of that lately. Looking down at the phone she sighed. _Damon._ Well she had to have talk to him sooner or later; she was just counting on it being much, much later.

"Hey." She answered awkwardly. Before he could reply, she started again hurriedly, "Listen thank you for taking me back to Caroline's last night. And if I did or said anything embarrassing then…"

"Peyton, it's fine. Relax, that's not why I rang."

"Oh… Ok… Then what's up?"

"Don't be busy tonight. I'm going to pick you up at 8.30 sharp. Be ready." Before she had time to argue or question him, he hung up the phone.

"Cryptic much", she muttered to herself, but she didn't have time to wonder any more on his words as she fell asleep the second her head touched the pillow.

* * *

Peyton frowned as she looked at the clock for what must've been the tenth time in the last five minutes. "It's still nine, just like it was when you checked ten seconds ago."

"You have eyes in the back of your head now?"

"No, you're just _really_ predictable." The next thing Tyler knew something hard and round and orange hit him in the back of his head. "That hurt." He sulked, rubbing his head slowly.

"Good." She shot back as she folded her arms and stalked off to her room. Just as he got to her bedroom door, ready to apologize there was a gentle knock at the front door. He opened it to reveal Damon Salvatore standing in a simple black shirt and dark washed jeans. "You're seriously late."

"I didn't realize I had to punch in a clock with you." Damon sneered; not expecting to be greeted by anyone other than Peyton, especially not Lockwood. _Were they…?_ _No. _He shot away the thought as soon as it entered his head. "Is Peyton here?" He looked past Tyler's shoulder and saw only an empty living room and a closed door that he knew was Peyton's room.

Tyler tilted his head to look at the older man's wrist, "See, you're wearing a watch so you must know what time it is. Unless… oh god- you can tell the time, right?"

"Is she here or not?" Damon snapped impatiently. Of course he knew he was late. _He _was the one that had made the date with Peyton after all. He didn't need this annoying little punk giving him a hard time.

Tyler narrowed his eyes, considering for a minute before finally saying, "Wait here." He walked away as Damon mumbled under his breath, "It's not like I can go anywhere." He stared at the doorframe with a feeling of resentment. This barrier was just another perfect embodiment of their relationship; her lack of trust and his lack of honesty. He wondered if he would ever pass threshold, or if he would always be standing on the outside looking in, waiting patiently for an invitation that would never come.

Before he could reflect any further on the entrance and everything it represented, Peyton emerged from behind the door with Tyler in tow. She was wearing simple black skinny jeans, a red and black printed T-shirt and her usual black leather jacket. No make-up. No high heels. It was effortless. It was simple. And she was beautiful.

"You're late." She told him sharply.

"I know." He agreed, "I got held up and the traffic was…" He stopped himself. He didn't want to start the night by giving excuses or exchanging information of the pileup on the highway that made getting anywhere a nightmare. So he tried again, "You look great."

"It's nothing." She disregarded the compliment with ease. He understood her dismissal straight away; it wasn't so he would argue with her just to compliment her again. No, she was telling him that she didn't dress up for him; she didn't do anything other than what she normally did for tonight.

"I know. But you still look amazing." He answered back honestly. Compliments would get him nowhere, but it still had to be said. She still had to know. "Shall we go?" He asked, hopeful. _Please don't slam the door in my face._ She hesitated, biting on her lip as she considered. Finally, she turned to Tyler, "I won't be long." Thatwas definitely more for his benefit than Tyler's, he knew. Tyler nodded his head, before turning to Damon to offer one final dig at his benefit, "I would say have her back by a certain time, but we already know-"

"I got it." Damon cut him off wishing he could cross the threshold, if for nothing else, to snap the teenager's neck.

Damon didn't talk much in the car and Peyton wasn't in the mood to start conversation. She was still annoyed at him for being late but refused to mention it because she didn't want him to think she cared that much. She cared.

"We're here." Damon informed her as he parked his car in an empty lot.

"Where's here?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously; they definitely weren't in the town centre yet the place looked familiar.

"Come see for yourself." He said as he got out the car, relieved when she followed suit. They walked slowly, him leading the way as he told her, "Last night, when I was driving you back to Caroline's, before you passed out, you said something."

She swallowed, scared; she could only remember patches of the day before and definitely couldn't recall a conversation she had with Damon in his car. "What?" She asked uneasily.

"You said that you hated yourself for leaving Tree Hill." He told her.

He mouth formed a perfect o. He climbed over a low broken stone wall and offered her his arm, pulling her over it on to the other side as he continued to walk. Her mind was screaming at her now that she had definitely been here before as the incline gradually increased and the concrete melted into grass. She was about to ask again where they were when the hill disappeared and revealed an empty grass field stretching miles ahead of them. She didn't have to ask. "This is where…" She began.

"You were here with Caroline the night of the meteor shower." He swallowed as he said the next part, out of shame or guilt she wasn't sure, "the night you saved my life."

"What are we doing here?" She finally managed to ask. She hadn't been here since that night, but just thinking about it made her feel uneasy. Damon had told her that night that she didn't need to worry about the man that attacked them hurting her. _I took care of him. _She didn't ask what he meant. But did she really need to? He was dead, deep down she knew that. Peyton just shut her mind off whenever she questioned whether it was Damon that killed him.

"I…" He started, bringing her back to the present, "Let me show you." As he walked a couple of hundred yards further in she noticed the blanket on the floor and everything that lay on it. A black folder, muffins, coffee cups, a couple of records. Then she noticed the label on the coffee cup. _Karen's café._ "These are from Tree Hill." Her mouth realized before her brain registered what it meant. "You got these from Tree Hill." She stared at him in wonder.

"You're homesick and you miss your dad. I can't do anything about your dad." And he wasn't so sure that he wanted to; if Larry Sawyer was everything Grey made him out to be, he could handle putting off meeting the vampire hunter. "But I can do something about your homesickness."

"How…" She began as she dropped to her knees and looked at all the little wonders around her; the things she had taken for granted when she could have them whenever she wanted.

"I spoke to Nathan and told him what was going on. After I got off the phone to you today, I drove to Tree Hill." Damon explained, "He said to go to the café, some record shop that you loved and he gave me some of old newspaper clippings from when you did that art section in the local paper." Damon explained how he had spent his day. He drive had been a bitch but when Nathan met him once he had arrived in town, it hadn't taken long for him to get everything on the list Nathan had compiled and he spent another hour catching up with Nathan.

"Why would you do all this?" She said as she looked at the records he had picked out; a vinyl _Elvis Castello_ and a best of compilation from _The Weepies_. They were actually good picks… Too good. He could see the doubt in her face and added, "The guy at the store might've helped me out with picking them."

"They're perfect." She whispered softly, nodding her head in affirmation.

"I get that you miss the place you grew up in. It's natural." Damon began, sighing as he continuing, "But you hate yourself for leaving…? I hope that you never have to go back." He knew he should've been ashamed of his selfishness but he didn't have it in him. "It sucks that you left friends there… But you've made just as many here. People that love you _just_ as much. If not more…" He finished quietly.

He looked down in shame, scared that maybe he had revealed too much. An eternity stretched before she finally spoke, and when she did, they weren't the words he expected. "I miss my dad."

He looked up in time to see a single tear fall from her eye. He didn't know what to say. That was one thing even he couldn't fix. But she spared him the task of finding something of value to say back as she continued. "Every day, I say out loud how long it's been since I've spoken to him last." Like a mantra, without fail. She had been doing since she was sixteen- she told herself, as the number of days grew larger from when she had spoken to him last, that only meant that there were fewer days left until she would get to speak to him again. "When my mom died, he threw himself into his work. I guess it was his way of coping. And I was too young then to ask him why I didn't see him more. If it was something I did." She laughed weakly, though there was no happiness in her laugh. "And then as the years went by, I couldn't ask him to quit." She began to play with the folds of the blanket, wrapping them in her fingers and then flattening out the material. Over and over. To keep her focused on something other than what she was saying. "Then last year when Ellie came, I thought that maybe I had her; maybe I could lean on her when my dad went away. Then she died too. And when I lost Brooke, something inside of me just snapped. So I left. And I lost everyone else back home." She breathed a heavy sigh when she finished, looking up to see an astonished Damon staring back at her, "I'm so tired of losing people, Damon. And I'm _so_ scared that one day I'm going to wake up and I'm going to stop counting the days. That one day I'm going to wake up and I'm just going to… break."

There it was in all its glory. The reason she left. The reason she was so terrified to let anyone in. She relied on nobody because she had discovered at the tender age on nine, when her mother died, that nobody was invincible. People died; loved ones left. And she was left all alone.

_No. _He shook his head stubbornly. This wasn't how she was meant to be at eighteen. She was meant to be hopeful, optimistic, excited about what the world had to offer. Without thinking, he moved to kneel across from her, and gingerly placed his hands on either side of her face. "You won't break." He said it with so much certainty she almost believed him just for saying it. "You have been through so much … And you're still standing. You are stronger than anyone I have ever known. You won't break." He told her, holding every word with such gravity that she had to hear him.

"And if you need someone to lean on, then lean on me. I'll be here." He said, unfaltering. "I will _always_ be here." He dipped his head so his ice blue eyes were level with her moist hazel eyes. Certainty met with hesitation and for just that moment defeated it. He didn't know how long it would be before she needed that reassurance again, but when she did he would be there. _I will always be here._ He knew with every fiber of his being that he would never break that vow. It was one promise he intended to keep. Until her dying day.

Before he knew what was happening, her arms had wrapped around his waist and she buried her head in his shoulder. He returned the hug without hesitation, one hand lost in her bed of curls as the other rested on her lower back. Somehow, still enfolded in each other, they were soon lying down staring up at the stars. Peyton's head rested on his chest and in the darkness, her right hand found his left. Fingers entwined. She couldn't remember anything that had felt as right as that- their embrace. Every inch of their bodies touching, some parts clinging, others simply grazing. She closed her eyes, smiling as his fingers began to trace lazy circles along her back. "I could get used to this."

She bit her lip as she nodded her head gently, "Me too."

They sat for a couple of minutes before he eventually broke the silence. "We should really drink the coffee's before they turn stone cold." Damon said against her hair. She hummed and for a second he thought that she must not of heard him until she released herself from his grasp, but her hand never left his and he did nothing to unlace their fingers either. She grabbed a coffee cup and furrowed her brows in confusion, waving them around when she realized they were empty. "You do know that when you go to café's, you don't just take the cup- they kind of have to fill it with coffee first."

Damon laughed, "I am aware." He reached forward and revealed a thermos. "I knew it wouldn't last the drive back so I asked them to put it in this."

Peyton smirked, "Damon Salvatore, the forward thinker."

He smiled as he poured the black, steaming liquid into the coffee cup that she held out for him. "Thanks." She said when he finished and she handed him a cup. Excitedly, she used her free hand to inspect the food he had bought back more carefully. "Triple chocolate chip cookies glazed in honey and walnuts!" She exclaimed when she saw the pack of cookies among the rest.

"Or to call it its proper name: early onset diabetes." Damon mocked, shaking his head. It was little wonder she wasn't morbidly obese if _this _was her favourite food as Nathan had informed him.

Peyton simply rolled her eyes at his quip, "Try them and then make fun of me."

"Pass. I'd rather live a long and healthy life."

"If you want to live a long, healthy life then we need to talk about your drinking problem."

"I don't think you get to lecture anyone about the dangers of alcohol after your little display yesterday." Damon countered.

"Please, I've seen you _much_ worse." She replied, halving the cookie and handing it to him. "Eat." She demanded as she blew on the coffee before taking a small sip.

"I'd much rather," He took the coffee from her hands placing it out of reach, he turned back to her, "do this." Before she could do anything, his hands were on her stomach and he was tickling her. She kicked and screamed, objecting between fits of giggles, "Damon…" She laughed, "Stop! This isn't funny." She squirmed under him as his body fell on top of hers and his hand finally rested still against at her waist. She reached out, slowly, cautiously as her hand stroked his cheek and she realized she had no doubt or reluctance. She wanted to kiss him. She was going to kiss him.

But as she leaned her head into his, his suddenly inched away and then he got up from on top of her and then they were meters apart. He cleared his throat as he stepped further away still and her heart dropped. Maybe she had waited too long, said no one time too many. _It was too late,_ she thought to herself sadly.

"I'm sorry." She felt her cheeks redden as she looked down at her lap, avoiding his eyes.

"Don't be. It's just- we can't." He shook his head.

She wanted to ask why but bit her tongue, so she nodded her head even though she had no idea what it was she was agreeing with. "Why did you bring me here… to this field?"

The change of conversation startled him as he widened his eyes at her. He shrugged his shoulders, answering lamely, "This is where you saved my life."

"Yeah, I do remember." She laughed meekly.

"I'll owe you for that for the rest of my life." As soon as he said the words he instantly regretted them for the effect they had on her, she tensed visibly wincing at the words.

"Is that all this is to you- debt, ingratitude?" She tried to sound unaffected, but her voice betrayed her. Anger, sadness, disappointment flooded her features.

"That's not what I meant." He grimaced.

"Then what did you mean?" Her tone was harsh as she spat the words out. She stared at him expectantly, and when he said nothing, she scoffed, "You know what, forget it! I don't want to know." She got up, ready to walk all the way back. She didn't care that it was late and dark and cold and she didn't have a ride. He was infuriating, and contradictory and confusing and she hated him and…

Before she could finish her thoughts, his hand grabbed hold of her wrist. With one tug she had spun around to face him and he had already crossed the little space that separated them. She opened her mouth to argue when his lips claimed hers before any words could be formed. The move was sudden but the kiss gentle. His lips were soft each time they reached down and touched hers. His hand travelled down from her wrist to her, entwining their fingers once again as his other hand found the back of her neck, below where her mass of blonde curls started. A soft nudge on her neck, barely anything at all, just to bring her a little closer, so he could hold her a little tighter to his body. It was then when something in the back of her mind told her that he was still holding back; gauging her response, weary that he maybe he crossed some line but at the same time unwilling to pull back. So she abandoned all thoughts and let her body take the lead. She moved into him, resting her hand on his strong, hard chest and kissed him back. Hungrily. Passionately. Unreservedly.

He was startled, but only for half a second before he responded, his lips meeting hers with as much force as she offered him. His lips were intoxicating, dizzying her senses. With every small peck, she wanted more. _Why had they waited this long?_ Nothing had ever felt as perfect as that moment. Before she could control her emotions, the ends of her lips turned up toward the night sky as she smiled into his lips, unable to hold in the happiness she felt at something as simple as the taste of his mouth mingled with hers.

"You're smiling." He muttered, into her mouth, as his lips never stopped peppering kisses onto her lower lip.

"I can't help it." She laughed into his mouth, breathing hot air against his face. He pulled his head away from hers, not too far, just far enough so he could gaze at her with eyes of queer fascination.

"I didn't say you could stop." Before he even had time to think of a reply her lips found his again, sucking sensually at his mouth as his mouth growled lustfully at the action. He leaned forward to deepen the kiss only to be denied as she pulled back playfully. _Oh, so that's how it was? Well two could play at the game._

His hand, the hand that wasn't holding her own, left her neck. His hand curled into a half open fist as his knuckles gently grazed the arch of her back. With each touch he felt her push herself further into his body. His hand trailed down the length of her back at a painstakingly slow, seductive pace until it found itself at the side of her waist, where stomach met back. He lifted the thin fabric of her top ever so slightly as his hand stole away under it and the shirt fell back over her waist and his hand alike. He uncurled his fingers, laying them to rest against her smooth supple skin and suddenly her heart rate deafened his sensitive vampire ears. She opened her mouth less than an inch at his touch but that was all it took. He knew he had her.

Without hesitation or invitation, his tongue moved from his mouth and entered her own. A thousand different sensations attacked her all at once. The principal one being the heat; from his mouth or hers she couldn't tell, but it mirrored the heat that she was feeling from her waist where he was cradling, stroking, holding her. Then his tongue found hers and she braced herself against him as she felt her knees buckle and weaken at the mere contact. Their tongues contacted, embraced and then they were dancing. A dance of seduction and power as their tongues wrestled and fought. No sooner did they part before they naturally gravitated towards each other again. She moaned into his mouth, whether he heard her she couldn't tell, but she cursed herself anyway because she should not be enjoying a kiss _this _much.

Air. She needed to breathe. Breathless as she was though, she wasn't going to be the one to break off the kiss. She didn't _want _to stop. It was as if he could sense it though because he pulled away, his tongue moistening her lips as it left her mouth. With her mouth no longer pressed to his, instinctively she sucked in one long breath and then shallower ones. She felt stupid for even feeling breathless when she stared up at his unfazed eyes, his breathing as normal as ever.

"You don't play fair." She frowned, looking down at his hand still resting at her waist.

"You started it." He countered, grinning as he said, "But I'm willing to go for round two if you are."

She rolled her eyes as she tried to offer him a scolding look but it soon grew into a smile before she could stop herself. "So, Ms. Sawyer…" She followed his lead as he sat back down cross legged.

His hand never left hers.

"Yes, Mr. Salvatore?"

"Whatever shall we do now?" He smirked suggestively as his blue orbs widened.

"You have a suggestion?" She pushed back a strand of her behind her ear.

"I have several." His eyes glistened under the moonlight.

"Me too." She whispered as she lay her head back on his chest and dragged him back down to lying position.

"Not exactly what I had in mind." He muttered as she brought their hands under her chin, resting on his chest.

"Get used to it."

"Already done." He replied softly as she smiled.

He stared up at the starless sky as he held her in his arms. It was a hue of different shades of purples all painted together and splattered across the sky. The half crescent moon shone brightly against the otherwise blank sky. The night was breathtaking in its simplicity.

Where the night of the meteor shower was a sign of change, destruction, even uncertainty, this night was its counterpart in every way; it had beauty and a sense of peace. He wasn't holding a dying girl in his arms, her blood flowing over his fingertips, crying in pain because of _his _actions. Instead, she was smiling and safe. She was there out of want not need.

As Damon closed his eyes to the calm of the night sky, he smiled. For the first time in his entire vampire life, he was truly hopeful.

* * *

"We've had barely any of the stuff you brought." Peyton eventually whispered into his chest. "Such a waste…"

"Hmm." He agreed, though his tone suggested he didn't really care about the food. "By the way Nathan says hi." Damon informed her before adding, "He also told me that if you screen his calls again in the future he's going to have to drive all the way up here to check your phone is working."

"Yeah, I am aware it probably wasn't my finest hour." Peyton admitted; another name to add to the list of people she owed apologies to.

"He also told me to tell you they got into State Championship semi finals." Peyton shot up from where she lay, upsetting Damon who had gotten used to how she felt against him.

"That's huge!"

"Sure." He nodded his head hesitantly, though he couldn't share nearly as much in her excitement, "Nathan seemed about as happy as you about it."

She tutted as she said, "You just don't care because any sport that doesn't involve alcohol isn't a real sport to you…"

"Am I wrong?" He cocked his head to the side.

"Which basically rules out every sport known to man." She finished pointedly.

"Beer pong!" He countered back, looking at her triumphantly.

"Of course… Please congratulate Olympic gold medallist Damon Salvatore for his natural ability and unmatched talent in… beer pong."

"It has a certain ring to it, you got to admit…" Damon smirked.

"Except to win a gold medal at something you actually need to train and have self discipline."

Aware that an argument that involved him saying he had self control and discipline would be lost before it even began, he tried a different route, "You can be good at anything if you put your mind to it."

She narrowed her eyes, staring, "You know that you become the gold medallist first, _then_ the motivational speaker?"

He shrugged his shoulder, quickly conceding defeat. "Whatever… So what happens if they win State?"

"If some scouts watch the game, which they will, Nate could get a scholarship at a top college and then get recruited to play ball professionally. It's been his dream for as long as I've known him."

"Guess it kind of is a big deal then." Damon remarked, realizing that he probably should've acted more impressed when Nathan told him the news.

"Yeah, kind of…" She shook her head, laughing.

"Still, that place is obsessed with basketball. Do you know how many places I passed that had 'sponsor of Tree Hill Raven's' plastered across the windows and doors? It was ridiculous."

She smiled widely as she said, "I can't believe you drove all the way there. You know it's a six hour round trip, there and back?"

Damon scoffed, correcting her, "More like an eight and a half hour trip with that stupid accident that still hadn't cleared up by the time I left. It was fine though- not like I had anything better to do today - Grey's barely ever at the house. I probably would've been bored out of my head back here anyway."

She shook her head in disbelief, "You drove all the way to Tree Hill because you were bored?"

He looked at her as if it was the stupidest question he had ever been asked, "No! I drove all the way to Tree Hill so I could see that face again." He pointed to the smile still gracing her lips.

She smiled wider still as she leaned in, placing a brief kiss on his lips. As she pulled back, though way too soon for his liking, she muttered "Thank you."

"You are so welcome."

* * *

When she went to bed that night after he dropped her off, her eyes didn't feel heavy as they had for so many days when they succumbed to sleep. She woke the next morning, walking past the food boxes and records she had left on the table from the night before and entered the adjoining bathroom. And even as she looked in the mirror, speaking to herself "Three days" she noted that mere seconds after the words had left her mouth, another content smile reappeared on her face.

* * *

**Author's Note: First kiss! Big deal. Hope the 16 chapter wait (which sounds ridiculous as I write it) was worth it! I wanted to write well since it had been such a long time coming, so I hope it was worth it for you guys! **

**Omg, wow! 100 + reviews- you guys are all so amazing! Truly so grateful for all of you that read, review, favourite, and story alert. Love you all!  
**

**OK, it's been a long time coming but FINALLY replying to reviews...  
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**m- Nathan is one of my favourite's too and I thought he made the most sense to bring into the story at this point and I definitely wanted Damon to interact with someone from Tree Hill so glad you liked that I added him in!  
**

**saraellis- Thank you so much! I'm glad you're liking the story and hopefully getting better with the updates as well! I passed my exams- so yay! Thanks for wishing me luck and I hope you liked the chapter!  
**

**I have PM'd everyone else (or will after I put this chapter up!). Again huge thanks to you all for taking your time to read and review! You're the best!  
**


	18. Eighty six Charlie came over

**Authors Note: Long overdue update- I'm sorry! My laptop decided to die on me and I basically had to rewrite the chapter because I don't (but now will definitely start to) back up my work! I've also learnt I don't have the best memory... Anyway, again I'm sorry for the long wait and I hope you like the chapter still! This chapter is the song lyric from I'll never forget you by Francis and the lights. I hope you still like it!**

* * *

Grey remembered being told when he was younger (younger in human and not vampire years that was) that the first impression was the only one that truly counted. He supposed that there wasn't a time where that piece of advice could've been truer than now. This was quite possibly the most important first impression he would be making in his entire life. He entered the local café hotspot (the Mystic Bean… naturally), walking up to the counter with the self-assured confidence that his mother told him he had been born with.

Grey stood, waiting behind a man placing his order and looked around the café curiously surveying the people going about their business. It was fairly empty, save for three booths. In the first were two men pouring over the days papers whilst hurriedly gulping down steaming hot cups of coffee before their 9-5 at what Grey guessed was most likely some kind of insurance firm. The second booth was hidden away in the corner, where a young girl was half concealed behind a perfectly placed plant, in deep concentration behind the pages of a book, obviously not wanting to be recognized or disturbed by anyone she might know. But it was the third booth that caught his attention; a couple sat in silence; their body language told Grey that they had just had a fight about something yet neither seemed to want to be the ones to storm off, so instead they both sat there in icy silence sipping on drinks that had already long gone cold, waiting for the other person to give in first.

Lost in his thoughts, he was beckoned to return to the moment as the waitress called him to the front of the queue. He smiled slightly as he approached the counter, briefly looking at the drinks board displayed on the wall over her head, "A tall black coffee please." He considered for a second before calling her back, "actually make that two- and can you make them to go please?"

"Sure." The caramel skinned waitress nodded before disappearing around to the back of the kitchen to place the order through and returning a minute later as she rang the bill through. He frowned as he stared at her, pretending to place a face he already long since come to embed into his memory, " I'm sorry- you look really familiar. You're not friends with Elena, are you?" He asked the question he already knew the answer to.

She nodded warmly at her friend's name, "Yeah, she's one of my best friends actually. How do you know her?"

"Oh, I bumped into her (quite literally) when I moved into town." Well, it wasn't a _complete _lie. "I'm Grey." He smiled politely as he introduced himself.

"I'm Bonnie." She replied warmly.

"It's nice to meet you Bonnie. Not that I want to really sound my age, but shouldn't you be at school already?" He asked.

Bonnie laughed, "It's a half day so I took the morning shift here- I'm heading in at around twelve."

"Ah" He nodded his head in understanding.

"So what brings you to Mystic Falls?" Bonnie asked politely as she wiped the wooden surface for the tenth time that morning even when she knew her OCD tendencies were lost on most people.

"Just passing through and the name kind of drew me in." He lied, knowing straight away that if he used the generic 'visiting friends' excuse, the question would come as to who exactly he was visiting and he had a feeling that Damon wasn't exactly on Bonnie's Christmas card list.

"Right... I just feel the need to warn you that there isn't much to do around here in terms of entertainment."

Grey smiled to himself, as if enjoying a joke only he could appreciate, "Ah, I'm not so sure about that…"

Bonnie narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, but shook it off when two steaming hot cups of coffee were brought out from the back kitchen by an older man. She put them in a Styrofoam cup holder, handing them to him with a smile. "Well anyway, it was nice to meet you and I'll probably see you around."

He hesitated before responding; he knew that he didn't have any other option, he had run this scenario in his head over and over and he had already decided this was what had to be done. He rested his cold hand on hers softly, "It was nice to meet you too, Bonnie." Grey watched as the colour drained from her face and her hand automatically jerked away from his, nursing it like he had just told her that he was suffering from the Bubonic plague (though he supposed that's what vampirism was for most witches). He walked toward the door, already regretting his actions but trying to dispel his doubts about whether it was such a good idea to reveal himself to her so soon. He turned as he reached the door and smiled "I'll see you around then."

…..

Damon heard his brother walking up the driveway before he even saw him walk through the front door. "Morning brother." Damon greeted Stefan, not bothering to look up from his phone as his fingers tapped contently on the touch screen. To his surprise, Stefan came to sit with him instead of grunt a response and retreat to his room like Damon had expected. "Was the breakfast to your tasting?" At Stefan's look of surprise, Damon smiled, "you're still wearing Bambi." He gestured to his brother's shirt that was stained the crimson red colour of blood. "You might want to change before you head into school unless you want to emotionally scar Elena."

Stefan furrowed his brows at his brother's upbeat attitude "Are you okay?"

"Peachy." Damon replied in a tone that very much suggested the same thing. "Why?"

"You seem… different."

"I am using a new brand of soap now that you mentioned it… It's got these bio tea tree oils that are meant to be good for the skin." Damon offered a sarcastic explanation.

"Hmm… No, pretty sure that's not it." Stefan replied after he pretended to consider it as a possibility.

Damon shrugged, "Well, different how?"

"I don't know, just… different." Stefan replied unable to think of another word to describe the feeling that something had changed in his brother from when he had seen him just last night.

"Different, huh?" Damon repeated, "Nice to know that word of the day calendar I got you for your last birthday was money well spent."

Stefan laughed at his brother, "Right, like you know when my birthday is." Seeing his shocked brother's expression, Stefan smiled, challenging him, "I will give you $100 right now if you can tell me when my birthday is."

For the first time since Stefan had sat down with his brother, Damon put down his phone with a half-amused, half-insulted expression painted across his face, "you think I don't know when your birthday is?"

"I don't even think you can even tell me the month." Stefan answered frankly.

Damon's hand clutched his heart, feigning sadness as he exclaimed, "You know, Stef, I thought our bond was stronger than that. The fact you think that I-"

"You're stalling right now, aren't you?" He smirked, knowing that the last thing that his brother liked doing was admitting defeat.

"Stalling?!" Damon gasped, "I can't believe you would even think-" He began, stopping himself as he heard the front door open and close, noting Stefan's face sour automatically. Grey entered the parlour, staring between the two brothers, before walking to Damon. "I got you a drink."

"Aww, buddy- you shouldn't have." Damon responded whilst he took it from his friend's outstretched hand. With his and Stefan's conversation brought to a premature end, Damon's interest returned swiftly back to his phone as he finished typing the half-written text where he had left off at. Grey sat down next to Damon, looking to Stefan he said "I would've got you one but I didn't think you'd be in."

"Thanks but you can keep your $2 coffee." Stefan answered coldly.

"It was actually $4. You can have mine if you really want it." Grey held out the coffee across the table, pulling his arm back when Stefan didn't as much as move a muscle.

Stefan remained silent but Damon could hear his teeth clench without even looking up from his phone, "Brother, did nobody ever teach you to be polite to house guests."  
"He's your house guest, not mine." Stefan spoke to brother through gritted teeth.

"Geez, you'd think you might be in a better mood considering all the cute little squirrels' lives you've just mercilessly taken from this world prematurely." Damon remarked.

Grey inhaled, "Oh that's right- you don't feed on humans anymore. I've always wondered about that… What does animal blood taste like?"

When Stefan failed to respond, Damon answered," It's like buying a really cheap knock off scotch from the gas store when you already know what the real thing is meant to taste like. I'm surprised you've never tried it."

Grey shrugged, "I've never felt the urge to go clean."

"Of course you haven't." Stefan muttered under his breath.

Grey looked up, "Is there something you want to say, Stefan?"

"Yeah- what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to catch up with Damon."

Stefan shook his head, "I don't believe you. You're hiding something. I don't trust you and I know that the _real _reason you're here has absolutely nothing to with catching up with an old friend."

Damon interrupted the pair, commenting with his attention still mostly focused on his phone "Whilst you two fighting over me is real flattering, it feels a little too homo-erotic for me, and more importantly, it's definitely bordering on incestuous."

"You've got an ulterior motive for being here." Stefan continued as if uninterrupted.

"Really?" Grey smiled, his green eyes glittering with amusement, "And what exactly do you think my ulterior motive is… ripper?"

Damon eyes immediately shot up from his phone, half expecting Stefan to flash across the room and snap Grey's neck. Before either of them had the chance, he cut in, "Stef, why don't you go hang out with Elena until school because I'm starting to feel more and more like the mediator and that is a position I'm just not at all comfortable in." To his surprise, Stefan got up to leave, throwing Grey a final dirty look as he reached the door. Just before he walked out, Damon called him back, almost completely forgetting their conversation before Grey had walked in. "July 28th."

In spite of his mood, Stefan smiled, "You were stalling."

Damon shook his head, replying self-assuredly, "Not even a little bit." He smiled as he watched Stefan leave the house before turning his attention back to Grey. "I really would've gotten him a coffee if I'd known he was going to be in…"

"Right, he's pissed because you didn't get him a $2 drink- it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you ripped open his girlfriend's neck the second you met her."

"It was $4- did I get overcharged or something!?" Grey asked, exasperated. At Damon's eye roll, he sighed, reclining in his position, "I don't understand what he's being so sensitive about; I barely drew any blood. Hell, it's not like she needed stitches or anything."

"Why don't you open with _that_ next time you see him?" Damon offered sarcastically. "You know he was right about one thing… You definitely didn't come here to just see me."

"Is that right?"

"You seem to be forgetting, I've known you pretty much all my vampire life, pal. You've never dropped by for a flying visit before."

"Then is there something you want to ask me?"

Damon shrugged, "If you don't want to tell me, me asking isn't going to make much of a difference."

"I'm not getting the third degree from you?"

Damon was quiet for a couple of seconds as he thought about it, eventually answering, "Eh, you're good. Besides, we both know you're going to tell me eventually."

"Oh, am I?" Grey smiled at the vampire's confident reply.

"Of course. Summer not included, I'm as close to a family that you've got."

"Well there's a sobering thought." He shuddered visibly.

"Oh ha ha." Damon chuckled dryly.

"Who are you texting?" Grey asked as he realized that he'd been on the phone since he returned from the coffee shop.

"My dentist."

"Very close to your dentist." He replied, playing along.

"She's a very good dentist."

"I see." Grey opened his mouth to say something then stopped himself. When he spoke again, he instead said, "You want to go out?"

"Come again." Damon coughed up some of the coffee he had been drinking in shock.

"Do you want to go out?" Grey asked, slower this time, emphasizing each word. "A bar, some drinks, reminiscing about old times."

"I didn't think you did that anymore."

What are you talking about?"

"I mean considering the whole reason you supposedly came was to 'catch up' you've been pretty MIA since you got here."

"Are you jealous?" He laughed.

"No, I just kind of figured that since I'm the only person you know here and you seem to be alienating people left, right and centre…"

"Like who?!" Grey exclaimed, exasperated.

"Well there's Elena, Stefan and Peyton to name a few."

"What did I ever do to Peyton!?" Grey asked, allowing the first two people on the list considering he'd attacked the first who was going out with the second person on the list.

"She doesn't trust you- said she thinks you've got something to hide."

"People say I'm affable." Grey replied coolly.

"Sure they do," Damon scoffed, "Right before you kill them."

"Well, not _ri_- … Where are you going?" Grey stopped mid-sentence as Damon stood up without explanation.

"I thought you wanted to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me later." Damon said as he shrugged into his jacket and downed the rest of his coffee. Needing no encouragement, Grey followed his lead, as they squabbled over who would be getting in the first round of drinks.

….

Peyton turned her head as she heard Tyler emerge from the bathroom. "Oh joy you're wearing clothes."

Tyler rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sorry I couldn't give you a show this time around."

"Tyler, I knocked on your door and you said come in!" Peyton repeated for the fifth time that morning.

"I said wait!"

"You said come in!" She exclaimed again. "Wait and come in sound nothing alike!"  
"Exactly!" On that they could agree. "Look, if you want a show, in the future, all you have to do is ask. I'm more than happy to please."

"You mean you're easy."

"At least I'm not a freaking perv." He retorted as he instinctively ducked the orange she threw in his direction. "So, speaking of guys you want to see naked- how was your date last night?"

"It wasn't a date." She sighed, the denial rolling off her tongue before she even had time to catch it.

Tyler smirked, "But you do want to see him naked?" Peyton gave him a blank look, choosing not to respond, so he began again, "No but seriously, how was it?"

"It was good." Peyton frowned at her own word choice, correcting herself, "… Really good." Still not satisfied, she finally answered quietly, "It was kind of the best date I've ever been on."

"Thought it wasn't a date." Tyler picked up on her slip up.

"How are you ten times more annoying than usual today?"

"Ha!" He laughed, "I forget you're Miss. Sunny disposition normally." He said as he walked around the kitchen island and pulled open the fridge, rooting around the fridge hoping to conjure an appetizing breakfast out of some salami, half an onion and the orange in his hand that she had thrown at him moments before.

As if she could read his thoughts Peyton told him, "Caroline's on her way here and she said she'd buy some eggs, bacon, bread, sausage-"

"So food basically? Given the amount of food she buys for us, she might as well just move in. She practically lives here anyway."

"Pretty much." Peyton agreed; Caroline was definitely the third roommate that did everything but sleep there (most of the time).

"So what did he do that made it the best night of your life last night?" Tyler asked continuing their conversation.

"I said best date."

"Peyton, I've heard about your ex-boyfriends, believe me when I say, it really wouldn't take a lot to beat them." Tyler scoffed. "So are you going to tell me what wonder boy did last night that was so amazing?" He asked, tiring of asking the same question over and over again.

"Why do you care?"

He shrugged, "You just seemed pretty low last night and you seem… better today."

Peyton bit her lip as the memories of last night came back to her. "We kissed." She smiled.

Tyler gave her a completely unimpressed look before uttering an unconvincing, "Wow."

"What?" She sighed, knowing there was more that he wasn't saying.

He shook his head, "You two fight way too much to not be having sex yet."

Peyton understood the point he was making, but she also knew that she didn't even want a relationship in the first place. She'd been warned by literally every person that she'd met that Damon wasn't a good person and he wouldn't be good to her. Then there was the issue of him more or less admitting that he was hiding something from her. But yesterday he drove cross-state to make her smile. Today she woke up still smiling. And tomorrow… well now, it was something she was looking forward to instead of dreading.

"You're totally picturing having sex with him right now, aren't you?" Tyler asked flatly, bringing her crashing back to reality.

"You seriously need to bring your mind out of the gutter, Lockwood." Peyton rolled her eyes, no longer surprised of comments that were so… Tyler.

"Funny- I was going to say the same thing to you." Before Peyton could respond, Caroline came bustling in brimming with cheeriness and bags of groceries. "When did she get a key?" He groaned.

"Way before Peyton decided she was going to let in strays." Caroline answered for Peyton as she threw the bags down and sighed happily as she gave the other two a look that suggested that she wasn't lifting another finger. Both Peyton and Caroline looked at Tyler simultaneously. "Great! I keep forgetting how Peyton's mission is to slowly kill everyone with her cooking."

Caroline looked to Peyton for a reaction and when no violent outburst ensued, she frowned, "What's wrong with you?"

Before she could answer Tyler responded, "She made out with Damon last night."

"Tyler!" She turned angrily on him as he began to transfer the groceries from the bag to the kitchen surface. He shrugged "What? It's not like you wouldn't have told her- besides she's got a sixth sense about these things."

"How the hell did Tyler know before me?" Peyton smiled at Caroline's first reaction, not really expecting anything different. "You can tell me everything while the little lady cooks for us."

"I'm spitting in your eggs, Forbes." Tyler muttered under his breath as Caroline led Peyton to the living area.

….

Damon frowned, trying to push away the bothering thought that Peyton hadn't text him back since he left the house with Grey. _Wow, when did I become that guy? _He thought to himself, shuddering visibly as Grey arrived back with the drinks. Deciding he would _never _think that again, he put his phone away and took the bourbon that Grey offered him.  
They sat for a couple of seconds in silence before Damon broke it with "So… we're in a bar."

"Uh, I can already see where this is going." Grey moaned.

"A room packed to the brim with people." Damon continued as a smirk grew across his face.

"Does it never get old?" He asked genuinely; he still couldn't understand Damon and Summer's obsession with the game. Every time the three of them went out somewhere there were at least half a dozen people, it would inevitably come up.

"Are you kidding me?! It's amazing!" There were very few things that Damon was impressed by and even fewer things he complimented people on out loud, but the agreed self-titled 'Reader' game was quite possibly, his favourite pastime (apart from the whole drinking blood thing- though that was more a form of survival than entertainment.)

"It's really not that impressive." Grey replied honestly; it was hardly a skill or talent- he just noticed things. "It's just observation- I see things that people just look right past. You can know 80% of what a person is about just by looking at them- the non-verbal. The other 20% you can get just by talking to them." He recalled trying to teach it to Damon once with no success- that was unless, 'Right… he's married." Was all there was to know about a person. "Besides, you're always _terrible _at picking people." At Damon's insulted expression, he expanded, "You either choose brunette bimbos with daddy issues or…. No that's about it. Summer on the other hand, knows how to pick them."  
"That's right." Damon inhaled as he remembered, "Didn't she pick out that serial killer in the Chicago speakeasy?"

"Sociopath." Grey corrected as he smiled to himself; remembering her look of pride when he read the stranger and informed her that she had pointed out a sociopath.

"Any chance there's a sociopath in here today?" Damon asked, surveying the bar and looking for potential suspects doubtfully.

"One, actually." He nodded, taking a sip of the amber liquid.

"Really?! Where?" His face changed to one of a boy that had just walked into a candy store. "Where?" He asked again impatiently, looking at his friend. At the expression on his face, Damon's own face fell with disappointment, deadpanning "Oh ha ha. You're hilarious."

Grey hid his smile in his glass but watching Damon huff, he rolled his eyes, relenting, "One person." His eyes quickly scanned the room, "And don't choose the redhead-you'll be wasting a go" Grey informed him, knowing that she would've been Damon's first choice and probably had the least interesting story in the entire bar.

"Got it! Now, let's play Reader." Damon rubbed his hands together excitedly as his eyes greedily took in every person in an attempt to analyse who looked like they had the most to hide.

…..

Peyton curled down further into the sofa where she was sitting as Tyler, who was lying lazily next to her, snorted. Caroline had been pretending to be her mom for the past two minutes and had somehow got onto the topic of the safety of the town and the long hours she was working. "Yes, it's especially tough on poor Caroline… Yes…. The kids do always take it the hardest." Peyton couldn't believe the conversation had lasted this long already. "Right of course… Well as I said, it all happened very sudden and she's got such a temperature that I just don't feel comfortable with sending her in to school. Well, I appreciate that Amy."

Tyler turned to Peyton, frowning, "Amy?" He mimed, confused.

Peyton shrugged her shoulders unsurprised; Caroline would, of course, know everyone working at the school, all the way down to the receptionist that she needed to ring when she was faking illness.

"Oh and my Caroline-"

Tyler let out a howl of laughter, causing Caroline to give him the middle finger. She continued as if uninterrupted, "… did mention that Peyton wasn't feeling well yesterday either… Yes, that's right- Peyton Sawyer." She laughed at something 'Amy' said, before saying, "Yes of course. And do let me know how Timmy's bat mitzvah goes." Saying one final goodbye, Caroline put down the fun, pleased with herself.

"Dude, how the hell do you get away with that as often as you do?" Tyler said, completely unimpressed with the effort.

"Well at least I didn't just have Peyton ring in pretending to be your dad's assistant…" Caroline retorted.

"Since when is your mom British?" Peyton joined in as Tyler laughed more.

"I can't help it- when I get nervous; I slip into a British accent!"

"Yeah- just wait for it. Right before finals, you'll see her turn into Mary Poppins." Tyler chipped in sarcastically as Caroline just rolled her eyes replying, "You know what I mean."

"So now that we've established that you're a crappy liar and Tyler is a lazy liar- what _do _you want to do with the two and a half hours that you've _insisted _we take off school?"

"Well…" Caroline began animatedly, "I was going to say we do mani-pedi's but I know how much you wouldn't enjoy that, Peyton."

Tyler replied flatly "You're hilarious, Forbes."

…..

"You're being serious?" Damon managed to get about between breaks of laughter. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so much to the point of tears.

Grey smiled at his friends hysterics, amused at how much fun he was having. "Either that or he likes to cross dress on weekends."

"Oh my god…" Damon chuckled as the laughter began to subside. "How does someone even-" Damon began to wonder as his friend shrugged in response, "I read people- it doesn't mean I always understand them."

Damon shook his head as he tried to wrap his head around the man whose one wish was to be a pirate. He wished he could tell Peyton that this particular man also happened to be her English teacher but she wouldn't believe him and what could he say; that Grey was the rain man of people? Somehow, he knew she would just look at him like he was clinically insane. Thinking of Peyton made him check his phone almost subconsciously as Grey poured the pair of them two more glasses of bourbon that had long since been left at the table on the house, courtesy of Damon's 'persuasive' talking.

"This whole cold reading thing- you've had it since you were turned then, right?" Damon asked once he finished writing and sending the text asking Peyton what she was doing later in the day.

He nodded, "I've always been able to do it- even when I was human but I don't know if it was just heightened after the transition, or I just paid more attention to it. Having an idea of how someone might react when you tell them you're a vampire or being able to spot a hunter in a crowded space is more about survival than what I used to use it for, which was just your basic parlour trick." He explained, though even he understood its limitations. He wasn't invincible just because he knew a person's life by looking at them. He wasn't quick enough to spot Larry all those years ago, he wouldn't have been able to call the number of close calls he'd had with death because of his arrogance when it came to his talent in the past. And he definitely could not have predicted that he would ever feel so disconnected from Summer; both physically and emotionally.

The vampire's ears pricked up, "You were able to tell how Summer would react to you telling her that you were a vampire."  
Grey shrugged, "It not that difficult- it's the same every time no matter who you tell. To start buckets of shock, then a lot of anger, a little bit of fear and a dash of betrayal… It's a pretty potent cocktail mix of emotions." Watching Damon take in what he was saying, with a look of silent contemplation on his face, he read his friends thoughts, "You want to tell Peyton."

Damon bit his lip as he shook his head sadly, "No… I just don't want to lie to her anymore. "

"So don't." Grey replied simply.

Damon rolled his eyes at his friend unhelpful advice, "What aren't you saying? You've been dying to tell me something all day. You were going to back at the boarding house but then you stopped yourself."

"It's not my place, Damon. It's got to be your decision." Grey said which only annoyed Damon more as he said yet another generic, diplomatic sounding reply.

"What would you do if you were me? … If it was Summer?"

"You already know what I'd do- I did it… I told her."

Damon didn't give up, pushing further, determined that he would get a decent response out of his friend. "Do you ever wonder if her life would be better if you hadn't told her? Do you ever regret it?"

Grey's eyes widened at the question in surprise. He considered before realizing that over the past few months he himself had been debating and wondering the very same thing. What would life have been like without Summer? Unimaginable. He hesitated in his attempt to answer, "I think…" He struggled for the words, "I think sometimes you can make a decision that feels so _right_ at the time… And then one day you just wish…" He couldn't finish his thoughts- at least not out loud, so he tried a different answer, "By telling her- what you're doing… It's not just going to change her opinion of you. Her whole life is going to be turned upside down by this lie. You're changing her life. You need to understand that." Grey emphasized again; "You are changing her life." Grey had always prided himself on his way with words, but that may just have been the least coherent answer he had ever given to anyone. Looking at the disappointment on Damon's face he sighed, "You don't seem happy."

"Honestly, it wasn't the exactly the answer I was looking for."

"Honestly?" Grey repeated sadly, "It wasn't exactly the answer I wanted to give." He stood up, resting his hand on Damon's shoulder for a second in an act of comfort that, to the random onlooker would seem like a drunken man leaning on his friend as he walked back towards the bar.

…..

Damon found himself waiting for his brother in his bedroom in the only state he would usually be when in Stefan's bedroom; at least slightly inebriated. He wanted to get completely wrecked but Grey stopped him somewhere between the second glass he had smashed and the third bartender he had almost come to blows with (or maybe it was the same one, Damon wasn't entirely sure.). Either way, Grey insisted that whilst 'fun drunk' Damon was entertaining, 'angry drunk' basically meant he was the designated carer. So after dropping Damon off back at the boarding house, Grey disappeared again, claiming he had somewhere to be (and Damon was too preoccupied with his own issues without having to start worrying about whatever seemed to be bothering Grey so much).

So, that was how he found himself waiting for Stefan in his bedroom, flicking through his journals; though by now he had managed to get the gist of his brother's life; sad, sad, why am I vampire?, I'm _so _in love Elena, sad, I must fight my desperate desire to take the devil drink of human blood, more sadness, I wish Damon would be more responsible. To say that his brother was in desperate need of a little more fun and a little less inward reflection was a grand understatement.

He looked at his watch again and walked slowly over to the bed and lay down, staring up at the ceiling and realizing that Stefan actually cleaned the cobwebs off his walls; either that or he was now taking the rabbit _and _insect diet, which in itself didn't make much sense as there was no vampire nutritional value in spiders anyway. "Wow…" Damon grimaced at the new lows he had reached as he realized he had spent the last five minutes thinking about his brother's 'vegetarian diet'. He closed his eyes thinking instead of the real reason that he was in his brother's room that had nothing to do with assessing his OCD tendencies.

Peyton Sawyer. They kissed and all at once everything was different. He couldn't hide behind the possibility that maybe she didn't _need _to know. Thinking about it logically, he predicted he had five years before the not ageing became a problem. That was assuming that she wouldn't call him out on the fact that he was hiding something like she had already done once before. But it was more than just the practicality of lying; it was the act itself. How could anything she say to him; anything she felt for him, be real if she didn't know who he truly was, what he had done?

It was a catch 22; tell her now and almost definitely lose her, don't tell her and lose her in a couple of years down the road, best case scenario. There were only two vampires he knew that had told the people they loved, who then accepted who they were. And Grey's opinion definitely wasn't what he had expected. So here he was; waiting for the second opinion that he hoped would bring some sort of clarity.

He wasn't sure if he had fallen into a light sleep or was just lost in deep thought because without even hearing him, Stefan had returned home and had dropped his bag off at the foot of the bed, "What's wrong?"

"Global warming- the polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate and-"

"Damon." The blonde vampire sighed, as if scolding a petulant child. "You're terrible with the small talk and when I left you this morning, you were in a good enough mood, so what's- "He began to ask again when his brother cut him off.

"Do you want to know why you don't want someone like Grey as an enemy?" Without waiting for a response, he answered his own question "He's perceptive. He can look at a person and know what their every look; their every expression means. He sees people- and I mean really sees people; right down into their souls."

"What did he say?" His brother frowned, assuming this conversation was going to consist of Damon warning him that Grey was dangerous and not to test him. He was instead surprised by his brothers response.

Damon shook his head as he answered truthfully, "Nothing I didn't already know." His eyes glazed over as his mind waged an internal battle of conflicting emotions, barely noticed when the bed dipped as Stefan joined him, waiting patiently. "I feel like we keep missing each other.

"You and Peyton?" Stefan asked, though it was really a rhetorical.

"I put myself out there and she's in love with Lucas, she considers even the possibility but is just reminded of Katherine. And yesterday… Yesterday was like the first time we were both in the same place and it felt so…" Damon searched for the word to explain what he had felt last night, and only one came to mind, "… right. Like, why has my life never felt like this before. And something just clicked."

"Are you going to tell her?" Stefan had already seen his brother playing with the idea of coming clean to Peyton over the last couple of weeks.

Damon shook his head as he tried to find the words to explain his conflict, "She's me. I see so much of myself in her. But at the same time… She's just… As much as she doesn't believe it, she's a _good_ person." He frowned, "I just don't want to be the guy that… If I tell her, then I can't take that back."

Stefan shrugged "Who says you have to?" Damon scoffed; as if it were that simple.

"I think for once in my life, I want to do the right thing… I'm just not sure I know what that is." Damon sighed deeply, before a look of resolution finally settled on his face. He got out his phone, wrote a text and quickly sent it before he could change his mind. He knew that no matter what happened tonight, everything would change.

….

"Damon text and said he wants to see you tonight." Caroline announced, shamelessly reading the message as it popped up on Peyton's screen. "You want me to text him back?" Caroline asked even as she began to type.

Peyton rolled her eyes, taking the phone from her friend, "You know there's such a thing called privacy."

Caroline shrugged at the concept; she had always believed privacy was overrated, "You can read my texts to Matt if you want… I got to warn you though, there's some pretty-"

"I know before you even finish that thought, I'm not going to want to hear it, so I'm just going to stop you right there." Peyton cut Caroline off, to the relief of not only herself but also Tyler.

"Suit yourself." Caroline responded as Tyler's phone began to ring, "Speak of the devil- its Matt, he's probably wondering why I ditched him at football practice." said as he picked up the phone and walked off to his room. "Hey, what's up?"

Peyton bit her lip, watching as her friend began skipping channels on the TV. "Caroline?"

"Hm?" She replied as she read the TV guide for the next show coming up after commercial breaks, a wide grin spread across her face. "Oh my god, Tyler can't miss this. Tyler!" She yelled a little too loudly given that his bedroom door was only a few feet away.

"Caroline," Peyton began again, trying to be more assertive, "Look there's something I need to say. About me and Damon…"

"What about you and Damon?... Oh god, you're not pregnant are you?!" Caroline's face contorted immediately in disgust as her eyes dropped to Peyton's flat stomach.

"What?! No!" Peyton exclaimed, shaking her head vigorously.

"Oh thank god!" Caroline breathed a huge sigh of relief, "Because I refuse to get my first TV break as 'friend number one' on Teen Mom." She announced as Peyton laughed. "So what about you and Damon?"

"I know you hate his guts…."  
"I don't _hate _his guts." Caroline replied honestly. In fact, her opinion of him had changed greatly since she had met Peyton. Sure, he was still an ass, but around Peyton, he was almost likeable.

"I just don't want… whatever I have with him to-" Caroline stopped Peyton again, raising a hand and shaking her head to silence her.

"Does he make you happy?"

Peyton didn't even need to think about the answer. It was instant. "He does."

"Then as long as you're happy, that's all that matters to me." The blonde responded, as her body was pushed against the sofa when Peyton gave her an unexpected huge bear hug. Tyler walked in at that moment, rolling his eyes, "Did I just miss a soppy chick flick moment?" He asked, sitting down next to Caroline on the sofa and kicking his feet up to rest on the junk filled table in front of them. "What are we watching now?"

Peyton and Caroline exchanged a glance trying desperately to hold in their laughter. By the time the familiar _Phantom Planet's_ _California_ began to blast out of the speakers, the girls could no longer stay silent and bust out in raucous laughter as Tyler shook his head at the pair, "You two should be a comedy double act- you're freaking hilarious." His voice dripped with sarcasm as he reached for the chips lying half uneaten by his left foot as the girls giggled through the entirety of the opening credits.

…..

Damon foot began to shake at vampire-like speed as he glanced down at his watch again. Seven twenty one. He tapped on it, assuming it _surely _must be broken seeing as what felt like an hour ago, his watch had read only seven nineteen PM. His palms began to sweat and his gut churned- nine more minutes. And still he hadn't made a decision; the truth or just the end of something that had only just begun. Greys words weighed heavily on his mind even then. _"I think sometimes you can make a decision that feels so right at the time…" _Except Damon couldn't say what felt right. _That _was the problem. All he knew was lying definitely _wasn't _the right thing.

It was so pathetic, that it was almost funny the situation he was in. His whole life, at least his whole vampire life, he had always known who he was; he had always known what he wanted. Katherine, bloodlust, and at times, (though he would never say it aloud), a better relationship with his brother. Vampirism had allowed him something he had never felt when he was human; invincibility. Anything he wanted, he could get. It had opened up a world of possibility. But now, it was like his old friend uncertainty had made its unwelcome return.

And, in that moment, he never felt more human in his entire existence.

….

Peyton wrapped her leather jacket tightly around her body as she walked down the quiet street, checking her phone as it told her she still had another three minutes before she was technically late. She was just about to turn left to enter the Mystic Grill where she had said she would meet Damon when she noticed him sitting alone on a bench staring up at the starless night a couple of yards ahead. She frowned as she continued straight toward him. Her view of him kept changing as his body continually changed from being in full view to being thrown into a vague dimness. She looked above his head and noticed the erratic streetlamp flickering between life and death. As she got within talking distance to him, his head snapped down, suddenly aware of her presence.

"What the hell are you doing sitting outside by yourself, Salvatore?" Peyton's eyes furrowed as she took the seat next to him. "You realize you don't have any friends in there?"

"Something like that." He gave a smile that the rest of his face just couldn't quite commit to.

"What's wrong?" She asked, concerned. Her hazel eyes took into his tired blue, only just noticing the dark circles under his eyes that weren't there a day before when she had seen him last. Her hand instinctively went to his arm, but rested there only a few short seconds before he pulled away. "Please, don't." He shook his head and hated himself immediately for the look he saw on her face. "Damn it!" He growled angrily, and his head fell into his hands as he tried to compose his thoughts. He had to do this right. He had to do this _one thing_ right.

"You know I would never hurt you, right?" When Peyton didn't respond and just shook her head in confusion, he repeated. If nothing else, she needed to know this one thing. "I would _never_ hurt you, Peyton. _Never."_

Peyton nodded her head, sensing that he needed her to know she understood, "I know that… Damon, you're scaring me."

His eyes watered at the statement. She meant nothing by it, but there it was. He didn't know if he could take it if she was scared of him. "I can't do this to you anymore. I can't lie to you." He had played this moment over and over in his head a thousand times in the day but it was only at that point that he knew what he was going to do. He had made his choice. "You were right." He bit at the inside of his cheek as he braced himself for what was to come. "That night that you came to me and said I was hiding something- you were right…. But I don't want to do that anymore."

Peyton's heart raced, but she couldn't explain why. Wasn't this what she wanted? She knew there was something keeping them apart- once that was gone, then maybe they could finally actually have a shot at being together. She should be happy, grateful that he was opening up. But she couldn't escape the sinking feeling in her gut that maybe she didn't want to hear what he had to say next. His face flickered from light to dark again and for a split second, she could've sworn she saw a tear trail down his face. An agonizing silence stretched between them to the point where Peyton thought that maybe he had changed her mind, so she opened her mouth to talk. But before words could form on her lips, he slowly leaned in as his hand cupped her chin and he kissed her.

It was slow and sweet and as his warm air breathed into her mouth, she could almost taste what he was trying to say. Goodbye.

His lips parted from hers as he desperately clung onto that moment even as it slipped further and further away from him. His hand still on her chin, with their noses and foreheads still touching, he sighed. "I'm a vampire." He opened his eyes slowly to see her hazel orbs looking at him in confusion, her lips already forming a question, as if she had misheard him. He knew then what he had to do; she wouldn't understand, she wouldn't believe until she saw it. So he let the blood rush to his face, his primal instinct kicked in and he felt himself transform. For the first time since her eyes had fell upon his, he allowed her to see his face. No mask.

"I'm a vampire." He told her.

The flickering streetlamp above their faces went out permanently. And at the same time, Peyton's life as she knew it came crashing down around her.

* * *

**Authors Note: HUGE chapter, I know. 18 chapters, this has probably been long overdue, but I hope you liked how it was written and hopefully you like where the story is going. And thank you all for the patience and continuing to read this fic- it means a lot. 3**


	19. Where my demons hide

**Authors Note: The name of the chapter came from the Imagine Dragons song Demons. Hope you like the chapter and with summer, hopefully I can be more consistent with my updates. Thank you all for reading and let me know what you think!**

* * *

Peyton closed her eyes for a brief second, willing herself to believe it was all a dream. Some fantastical idea that was in no way linked to reality. But when she opened them again, the same face was still staring back at her.

It was Damon. But it wasn't. It couldn't have been.

His teeth were animalistic. His eyes, which were always mesmerizing, charming, mischievous; they suddenly seemed cold and cruel. But worst of all was his expression; there was no other way to describe what she saw on his face other than bloodlust. She didn't know how long his face stayed like that before suddenly transforming back to the face she knew as easily as someone might change an expression on their face. But as soon as it happened, her stomach lurched. She was going to be sick. She didn't know what to do; she didn't know what to think. And all he was doing was sitting there, watching her, waiting.

She opened her mouth to speak, unsure what was going to come out until she actually heard herself ask "How?" She definitely didn't mean for her voice to sound so small and scared.

Damon swallowed, preparing himself for a long explanation that it turned out he didn't need . "In 1864, me and Stefan..."

"Stefan's like this too?" Before Damon had the chance to answer, Peyton shook her head, "No, this isn't real… this can't be real."

"I've wanted to tell you… I've told you already…. a thousand different ways in my head…. I just…." He trailed off; the words to his own ears sounded like lame excuses. After all, that was what they were, weren't they?

Her eyes glazed over, as she tried to process what she had just saw; she could barely take in anything he was saying. "You're…" Her voice was quiet; she couldn't finish. Saying it out loud made it real and she wasn't even sure if her brain would even let the word leave her mouth.

He had imagined this moment many times; what he would say, how she would act. But in all the different scenes that played through his mind, they had never felt like this. It was a gut-wrenching finality. He felt as if he were free-falling off the edge of a cliff, knowing there was no safety cord, nothing below to cushion the blow. He powered through the nausea he was beginning to feel, (though he had no idea why he felt so sick), "I tried. I've tried so hard. I've been going over it and over it in my head- what I should do, whether I should tell you-"  
"Say it." She whispered. He frowned, as her voice found strength her mind didn't know she had, "I need to know this is real. I need you to say it."

His eyes closed slowly for a brief second, as he nodded his head in understanding. He had shown her already, already said it as well. What was this if not a formality?

"I'm a vampire."

He thought he had braced himself for the worst of it. He was wrong. Because it was only then did she truly registered it. She exhaled deeply and all too quickly inhaled. She didn't know how long she kept doing this before Damon's hands clutched each arm and he lowered his head to level his eyes with her own frightened hazel. "Peyton, you need to breathe. Forget everything else and just breathe." She didn't know why her body obeyed; maybe it was because it was one thing that was in her control. Her own breath. She didn't care about the reason, the only thing that mattered was that for a few blissful moments she could forget that someone she was slowly but surely letting into her heart wasn't even human. Maybe she didn't understand what was going on, but breathing she could do. Breathing she was capable of. So that's what she did. And then when breathing wasn't enough, and memories and images started to seep back into her consciousness, she started counting. In and out with each breath.

One.

Two.

Three.

She got to one hundred and sixty nine when she realized she was in her car. One hundred and seventy two was when she saw that he was driving it. Four hundred and ninety one and she realized she was at her own front door.

Five hundred and eighteen breaths and she noticed she was back in her room. Five hundred and eighteen breaths and she stopped counting. Five hundred and eighteen breaths was all it took for her whole world came crashing down around her all over again.

…

Peyton's body shot up in bed, sweat pouring from her skin. It had been the fourth time in the past three hours her mind was torn from an uneasy, but welcomed sleep. Deciding it was futile to even attempt to go back to bed at this point she went to the adjoining bathroom and let the tap run for a couple of seconds to let it run cold. She sat on the closed toilet seat and put her head in her hands. She had rerun the night's events over and over in her head for the better part of both her waking and sleeping night. It still didn't make any sense.

Sure there had been moments; times she had caught him up in a lie. But he had always been obviously vague and the only time she called him out on it was followed by her telling him he didn't have to tell her. "Idiot!" She chastised herself, sinking her head into her hands. How was it OK that she knew he was hiding something and she didn't want to know? Or she didn't at least keep him at a distance for it. Her of all people, the girl with walls as high as the Great Wall of China.

And then she remembered all the warnings she was given. By Stefan, Elena, Caroline. Did Caroline know? No, she would've told her, surely. But then again she assumed Stefan, Elena, hell even Damon might've told her a little sooner. She didn't know what to believe and she sure as hell didn't trust anyone anymore. Still a small part of her hoped blindly Caroline can't have known. Because then who did she have? She shook away the thought; now wasn't the time for self-pity. But as soon as she left that question drift away, even less welcome memories caught hold of her. This wasn't the first time this had happened.

No, there was another time she felt this stifling disorientation. Like her whole world, everything she believed was a lie. Ellie. Her mother that wasn't her birth mother. And then she found out Ellie had a cancer. And then she died. And all of that happened within the space of a couple of months; and that was only last year. And now it was happening again.

Damon wasn't who she thought he was. So who was he? Was anything between them _real?_ Or was it all just lie's; an act that played out so beautifully she had fallen for it hook, line and sinker. And that was just coming off her professing her love for her best friend's boyfriend. She stared up from the sink, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Yet it looked like a stranger. _Who had she become?_

Before she could think of countless more questions a knock on the door interrupted her. She stood up suddenly, realizing the water had overflowed from the sink and was leaving a larger and larger puddle on the tiled floor. She quickly turned off the water tap, "give me a minute," she called out and splashed her face, pulling the plug out of the filled to capacity basin. She looked terrible, but she didn't have any time to do anything about that so she let out a heavy exhale, quickly composed herself and then walked over to the door, pulling it open.  
"What's up?"

Tyler frowned, peering his head around the door, "Are you alone?"

"Yes. What's wrong?" She asked again, wanting to keep the conversation as short as possible.

"I heard your tap running and I thought I'd check to make sure you weren't trying to flood the place."

"I must've forgotten to turn it off." Peyton replied, too tired to come up with decent lie evidently. She began to shut the door on him when Tyler's hand stopped her. "You ok?"

_No, tonight I found out that a whole other supernatural world exists out there and that my nearly, almost, kind-of boyfriend is a vampire. _Well, that was what she wanted to say. But even if she did tell him, she wasn't sure he would believe it- she wasn't sure she even believed it and she had seen it with her own two eyes. His face came back to her again; the face he hid from her all those months and she felt like was going to be sick all over again. Realizing Tyler was still at the door she gave the only answer she knew would definitely work and ensure he wouldn't ask any more questions, "Just girl stuff." At his confused expression, she screamed in frustration, "Oh my god- I'm on my period, Tyler!" And she slammed the door in his face.

"See, this is why I don't ask people what's wrong with them." Tyler muttered to himself and returned to playing his video games.

…

Stefan noticed Caroline walking across the quad and ran to catch up with her, "Hey, Caroline you ok?"

"Fine…" Caroline frowned.

"So that math test, huh… I am _not _looking forward to getting that mark back."

"Stefan, you seriously _blow _at small talk. What's up?"

Stefan nodded, grateful of Caroline's straight talking attitude. "Peyton didn't show up at school today- do you know where she is?"

"Tyler said she wasn't feeling well and oddly didn't want to answer any more questions about it. Why?"

Stefan shook his head, lying "We were just meant to work on this history project together- no big deal."

"Is that the one Mr Saltzman set, because I-" Caroline began when Stefan broke in "Caroline, I just realized I need to do something at home. I'll see you later?" Barely waiting for a reply, Stefan hurried off leaving Caroline in the middle of the quad reminding her of her strange encounter with Tyler, shaking her head, "What the hell is wrong with everyone today?!"

….

Drawing was an outlet for Peyton for as long as she could remember. She missed her dad; she drew. She fell in love with Lucas; she drew. She learnt about Ellie; she drew. It was her way of making sense about her emotions without actually dealing with the problem; her way of expressing what she couldn't articulate, or describe, or say to actual people.

Damon was a vampire and she got through half a pad of her current sketchpad. She spent the better part of her day trying to piece together every moment they shared, and most of them transferred from her mind to the tips of her fingers in a sketch, immortalized on paper. She sighed, biting down on her lip as she looked back on a sketch she had done from the night she found him sprawled out at her front door and remembered he wouldn't let her invite him in. At the time, she assumed it was because he was hung up on Katherine and misconstrued the gesture. But now it all made sense. She didn't know a lot about vampire trivia, but one thing she had picked up from endless re-runs of Buffy that would be on when she would be at home sick was that they couldn't be invited in. And he had never come into her house. Then she realized Stefan had; she wracked her brain to remember when she invited him in but her brain didn't comply with her request for memories, instead offering up more of Damon. She threw her sketchpad across the room in frustration. She didn't know what to believe anymore; every time she thought about the cold look on the face when he turned, her brain made her think about the Damon _she _knew. The Damon who was oddly protective of her, who travelled cross- state to get her stupid donuts from Karen's cafe, who made her feel more herself than she had ever felt in the last year with just one kiss.

She looked down at her phone not that she needed to; no new notifications, missed calls, texts. He dropped this on her and she had not heard from him again, which only fuelled her anger at him. To say she was experiencing a plethora of emotions was a grand understatement.

Without even knowing what she was doing until it was happening, Peyton began to dial the first number on her speed dial.

…

Stefan entered the Salvatore boarding house, briefly closing his eyes against the music blaring. He didn't have to travel far to find his brother feasting on a girl who looked dead behind the eyes, which meant only one thing- compulsion. He didn't notice Grey sitting lazily on the sofa drinking a glass of chilled blood until he walked further into the room. Stefan looked around the room, locating the source of music and abruptly turned it off; only then was Damon made aware of his brothers presence.

Stefan sighed, looking between his brother and Grey, "Who's the girl?"

Grey shrugged, "She came over to complain about the loud music and Damon insisted that she stayed for lunch." Stefan turned to his brother who pushed the girl towards him, "Want a drink?" He offered, before laughing at his own joke.

Stefan shook his head, "Leave." He compelled the girl, but as she made her way towards the door, Grey moved in front of her path to stop her. Stefan was about to argue when Grey spoke, "See, it's common manners where I come from to heal them before they go so they don't end up bleeding out on their kitchen floor." He explained as he bit into his wrist and shoved it carelessly at the girl's mouth.

Stefan ignored him and turned to a drunk looking Damon, "Peyton wasn't in school today." Damon's eyes suddenly sobered up, letting his vampire face transform into its human one, he shrugged. "You say that to me like I care."

"Damon you can't just tell her you're a vampire and then not talk to her about it."

"I am _not _having this conversation with you Stefan." He began to walk away when his brother flashed in front of him, "Then have it with her."

"Get out of my way, Stefan." He did not want to have this conversation. In fact, the only thing he wanted to do was redo the last 24 hours. Or maybe redo the moment he walked into her life. But since he couldn't do either, debating his love life with his baby brother definitely wasn't going to ameliorate matters. As he made to leave, Stefan held a hand to make him stay but Damon anticipated it and before he could react, at superhuman speed, Damon snapped his younger brother's neck. Without a second look Damon grabbed the bottle of bourbon and continued to his room.

…..

"So what was the big emergency?" Caroline let herself into Peyton's room without knocking. "And it better be good because I skipped fourth period for this and you _know _how hot I think Mr Saltzman is." The blonde's brows furrowed when she noticed a new picture on the wall above her friends bed, "This one's… dark."

Peyton scoffed, "You should see the rest of them." She put the book down and stared at her friend, not sure why she had even rang her. But she had to be sure, so she asked Caroline before she could lose the courage. "I spoke to Damon yesterday and he… Did you know?"

"Know what?" Caroline's expression read nothing of fear or apprehension of being caught out, but still Peyton pushed.

"I need you to tell me if you knew, Caroline. I need to know."

"Peyton, I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Caroline shook her head, sitting down on the bed next to her friend, "What did Damon say?"

"He said-" She stopped herself. Maybe because saying it out loud would be the final straw; the point of no return. "You promise you didn't know?" Peyton's lips pursed together as she tried to stop tears pooling in her eyes.

"No, what did he do?" The blonde was suddenly concerned as she placed her hand on Peyton's wrist, her eyes serious.

Peyton suddenly shook her head; she may have been stupid enough to fall for Damon's act but Caroline was telling the truth, she knew that much. "Nothing, it's not important."

"Peyto-" She began before her friend cut her off again, "It's not a big deal- he just…" She racked her brain to think of a convincing lie, eventually settling on, "He had a thing for Elena once. I'm just being a girl about it."

Caroline's eyes widened in surprise, "Elena?!"

"Yeah, can we just drop it?" Peyton wanted nothing more than to change the subject to literally anything else. They spent the next hour talking about her dad visiting next week. When she left, Peyton sat at her desk, opening her laptop she opened a search engine and did what she had been putting off all day.

…..

Stefan awoke with a gasp, coughing as he gripped his neck. He had experienced this feeling before; it was as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep. This was the feeling of his brother snapping his neck. He got up to see Grey eating an apple and watching him with a look of mild amusement on his face as he stood by the blazing fireplace. "You know, I've come to learn that when Damon's in one of these moods, it's always best not to talk to him or even… _look_ at him the wrong way. He gets so murder-spree-ey."

Stefan stood up, "I don't need you telling me about my own brother- I've known him a little bit longer than you."

Grey smirked, "And yet, he's never snapped my neck… Remind me again, how many times has he killed you?"

The blonde vampire sighed, ignoring the dig he stood up, brushing dust of his trousers. "Why don't you try talking some sense into him then?"

"I don't think he wants sense. He wants validation that he didn't make a dumb mistake telling her." Grey took a final bite of his apple and threw it in the fire, watching sparks fly. "My guess is her reaction was not one of validation."

"Well he can't just act out and ignore her because she didn't take it well- what was he expecting?" He knew his brother had been anxious about telling Peyton for a while now, but this was ridiculous.

"I've only ever told one human that I was a vampire." Stefan furrowed his brows, expecting there to be more to the story but Grey just smiled, lost in his own thoughts.

"What happened?" Stefan asked when Grey still didn't expand.

"She said she already knew. Said she knew the second she saw me."

"How?"

"She's one of a kind." Grey smiled with, if Stefan wasn't mistake, pride. "How did you tell the doppelganger?"

"Her name's Elena." Every time Stefan heard that word, he thought of Katherine, angering him irrationally because he couldn't think of two more opposing characters than Katherine and Elena.

"I know- I've got a perfect memory when it comes to names; it's just calling her the doppelganger seems to really annoy you."

"Your friendship with Damon makes more sense to me every time we speak." Stefan replied flatly, realizing that was the exact type of thing Damon would do to get a rise out of him.

"Thank you." Even though he knew the younger vampire didn't mean it as a compliment.

Stefan remembered back to when Elena showed up at his doorstep, a look of fierce determination on her face as she confronted him. "She knew- well she didn't know I was a vampire, but she knew something wasn't right."

Grey nodded "See I think they always do. I think, on a certain level, Peyton knew too. She just didn't push him to tell her, so his guilt ended up pushing him."

"I wish his guilt would make him talk to her now." Stefan thought aloud.

"No, you don't. The state he's in right now, talking to her would be the worst thing for both of them."

"She terrified to leave the house- somebody needs to talk to her."

Grey considered what he said for a couple of minutes, apparently mulling it over before finally nodding in agreement. "Then I'll do it." At Stefan's scoff, he continued, "you've been lying to her for as long as Damon has- I highly doubt she'll be in the mood to talk to you. I hardly know her, which means now she probably trusts me marginally more than she trusts Damon."

"Why do you suddenly care about her and Damon?"

"I don't." He said as he walked away from the warmth of the crackling fireplace and to the other side of the room, "But contrary to what you may think, Stefan- your brother is as close to a brother as I'll ever have. I care about him." He didn't wait for a reply, instead leaving a stunned brother in one room and an eavesdropping one in another.

…..

Damon had been walking around Mystic Falls for the past couple of hours; he had no intention of going anywhere in particular, he just couldn't handle another confrontation with his brother. That and he _really_ couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't kill him, so he left the house.

The only problem with the plan was that the aimless wandering meant he had nothing to do but mull over the last 24 hours; and that was hell. It was then that he understood what a vampires greatest weakness was; helplessness. He was stronger, faster, more invincible (though not entirely immortal) than he could ever be as a human. But even with all the new superhuman characteristics he might have possessed now, he couldn't fix this. Grey was right; he couldn't take it back. He told her he was a vampire and now he was too much of a coward to even face her. This wasn't him. Over the past few months he had morphed into somebody he could barely recognize anymore. And it was her fault. He saw so much of himself in her that she had slipped through his radar, past all of his defences. Now she was under his skin. And he truly hated her for that. Because as soon as he started to care, that was when life became truly unbearable. When his emotion switch was off, he was never happier. Sure it was a hollow, meaningless happiness but it was better than this. Because now all he felt was empty and doubtful and positively inadequate. Essentially all the human feelings he wished he could discard.

Without even knowing why or how, he found himself somewhere entirely unexpected. He wasn't sure who was more shocked at his being there when Elena walked into her room to find him sitting on her bed looking desolate and lost.

She gasped, clutching her chest in shock, "Damon what are you doing here?"

Damon shrugged, "I have absolutely no idea." He replied honestly.

She was about to chastise him, about to tell him that he shouldn't be here and that she would call Stefan. But then Elena saw something that made her change her mind; an expression she had seen him wear once before. And all at once, she remembered where; the night they tried to open the tomb. It was disappointment, hopelessness, but mostly just a heart-breaking grief. Without saying anything, she put down her schoolbag and walked over to him, hesitantly sitting next to him on the bed.

He turned to face her, "I told Peyton."

Elena's eyes widened in shock, "How did she…" She began to ask when she realized it was a stupid question.

"She had a full-fledged panic attack."

"Oh" Elena was at a loss for words…. But not for a long. "Well, what did you expect?"

Damon had expected a lot of reactions, but that certainly wasn't one of them. "I'm sorry?!"

"You told her you're a vampire." She told him and he bit back the urge to thank for her stating the glaringly obvious. "What did you expect was going to be her reaction?"

"I.." He stammered. She was right. They both knew it. But he didn't come here to have his head bitten off. Seeming as if she had read her mind, she laughed as she shook her head incredulously, "If you think I was going to give you sympathy you can think again…. You brought this on yourself."  
"I didn't turn into a vampire by choice." Ok, so that wasn't entirely true but that wasn't that wasn't the point and he was suddenly feeling the need to defend himself.

"No," Elena conceded, "But you did keep lying to her." Seeing he was about to argue back, she responded, "It's lying, Damon. You can't have thought she would be fine with it."

"It didn't matter!" He suddenly shot up in anger. He didn't appreciate getting attacked like this and if he knew Elena was going to be like this, he never would've come in the first place. "When I first met her, how was I meant to know I was going to feel this was about her. I tell every hot girl I meet in a bar that I'm a vampire, we wouldn't be the secret race that we are now."

But the Elena wasn't buying any of it. "If she was just another girl why didn't you do what you what you did to Caroline." She shuddered inwardly. She didn't like to think about that dark time her best friend was now completely oblivious to and she definitely didn't like bringing it up. "If Peyton was just like every other girl, you would've compelled her that first night."  
Damon suddenly triumphed, ready to blow a hole through her argument. "The bracelet! I couldn't compel her if I wanted to."

But any hopes he had that it might shut Elena up were dashed as she countered, "You didn't know that either. You didn't even try compelling her that first night."

"What's your point?!" Damon growled; if it was anyone else arguing back right now they would've been dead a long time ago. But he couldn't do that to Elena. The only thing more annoying than that fact was that she knew it too, as clear by her continuing retorts.

"My point is… sure, your feelings developed over time. But that first night, you knew there was something _different_ about her. Something between the two of you. You could've told her a hundred times since then. And you waited until now." And then Elena said something that cut him more than anything else anybody, including Grey or his brother, had said to him today. "If she can't get past this, it's not because of what you are Damon. She could get over that- I did…. It's going to be because you weren't honest with her sooner."

…..

As Grey walked down the narrow corridor of the apartment complex, he noted the paint peeling off the corners of the wall, where it met the ceiling. When he had been following Peyton, he never went as far as entering the gaudy apartment block and let's just say he was less than impressed. Then again, he was used to living in penthouse suites and luxury apartments. He had realized very early in his vampire life that he didn't need compulsion to get his way- his own words of persuasion worked almost as well. He supposed that being the daughter of a vampire hunter meant income might not always have come in steadily.

He stopped as he approached her door, clearing his throat. His ears spiked up, and when he was happy that only she was in, he rapped the door three times. He could hear shuffling inside, music turning off, a door opening and closing and then a lock being unlatched. Peyton opened the door and he only had a few seconds to note the shock on her face before the door was violently slammed in his face. He smiled to himself, forgetting how dramatic teenagers could be sometimes, though he supposed maybe she had reason to be. He knocked again, patiently waiting. When he got no reply he sighed, "I'm not here to hurt you if that's what you think." He spoke at his normal tone of voice as his heightened vampire senses told him she hadn't moved from behind the other side of the door.

"And I'm supposed to believe what you say…" She shouted; apparently she didn't get the memo on vampires heightened hearing.

"No… I'd respect you a little less if you did, to be honest…" When he was met by only silence, he frowned, "Would you at least open the door." More silence. "I said I'm not going to hurt you."  
"And I said I don't believe you." He didn't need to see her to know she was glowering through the door.

He rolled his eyes, "I can't get in… at least not without an invitation." It annoyed him to give somebody the upper hand but he knew that reassuring was the only way she might at least consider talking to him. "And besides, if I really wanted to hurt you, don't you think I could've kicked the door down by now?" She didn't respond for about a minute and if he couldn't hear her breathing on the other side of the door he might've thought that she had gone to her bedroom and left him there. But finally he heard the sound of metal clanking against wood as the door swung open.  
She was standing with her arms folded protectively across her chest, staring at him cautiously. "Show me."  
"What?" He frowned.

"Show me you can't get in."

He didn't know whether they had always been that bad, or whether the recent revelation had exacerbated them, but she had serious trust issues. Rolling his eyes, he wordlessly walked forward, in an attempt to cross the barrier, only to feel an invisible force field hold him out. To her credit, she only flinched slightly, before masking her face in a look of disgust. "See… Safe haven."

But she seemed less than satisfied. "Fine. What do you want?"

_What did he want?_ Well there was a question. Ask any other person that question, he considered, and a handful of things would come to mind. Most meaningless and trivial. But only word came to Grey's mind, or more one person. _Summer._ But he knew that that answer wouldn't suffice. She didn't know or care about Summer. He considered his answer carefully before saying, "I love Damon like a brother, but telling you vampires exist and then not saying another word was stupid… Even for him."

"So why are you here?"

"Like I said, Damon is like a brother to me."

She scoffed as she finally realized, "You're here to defend him?!"

Grey shook his head, "I'm not going to defend his past transgressions." He wasn't entirely sure he could defend some of the things Damon did, but he wasn't about to tell her that. "I'm here to help you understand a bit better."  
"What is there to understand?"

"Being a vampire isn't what you think it is." He noted her visibly shudder as he said the word 'vampire', and endeavoured to say it more- she needed to get used to this. There was no going back now, and living a life in fear was not living at all. "It's just a part of who I am; who Damon is… Like being American, or funny or smart. It doesn't define him."

"So he's not a murderer?" There was a glimmer of hope in a voice which he quickly destroyed with a shake of his head.

"There's not a vampire in history who hasn't killed somebody. It's ingrained in them- that bloodlust. It's hard sometimes not to…." He fought for the words, "lose control."

She couldn't hear this. The phrase ignorance is bliss never made more sense to her than right now. She didn't need to hear any more about how they worked, or why they did what they did. But it was like he could sense he was losing her because then he said, "You need to hear this. It's not going away. Your eyes have been opened and no amount of covering them with your hands is going to take back what you know."

"Why did he tell me?" She asked angrily as her eyes began to well up. But she would not cry. She wasn't going to let herself.

Grey's eyes observed hers; speaking with a voice that could only be described as pity "You know why he told you." He didn't need to say it. She didn't need to hear it. But it was there, hanging between them in the air. After a long stretch of silence Grey spoke again, "Tell me what you want to know and I'll try my best to answer." Then as an afterthought, added "Don't ask me about his past. It's not my place to say."

She thought for a moment, before nodding. She was finally convinced that, for now at least, he wasn't a danger. "What does it feel like?"

Of all the questions she could've asked first, that was definitely not on the top of his list. He considered. It had been so many years since he had been human, he sometimes could barely remember what that felt like. It was like asking sometime to describe what existing felt like. He figured he would start simple, with the basics, "Everything's heightened- I can move faster, feel every thread that's woven into my shirt, I can hear a child fighting with her mother two floors above where you're standing right now. I feel… alive. More alive than I ever did when I was human."

"But you're dead." It wasn't a question.

He shrugged his shoulders slightly, as if the question weren't as black and white as it seemed, "Technically, yeah…. More dead than you I guess…. But less dead than a corpse in a graveyard."

She seemed to soften a little, as her arms dropped slightly from their defensive stance. Grateful that he was actually getting through to her, he continued. "Like I said, I don't feel dead. I feel alive, as long I drink blood I can function."

"Human blood?" He voice tightened slightly but she didn't move from where she was standing.

"Yeah, human blood." His voice was blunt, unfeeling. This wasn't the time for niceties and beating around the bush (Damon had done enough of that to her as it was). She tried to steady her breath, her eyes fluttering closed as she asked the next question, "Are you… evil?"

He frowned- nobody had ever asked him that question before. Was he evil? "I guess that depends who you ask… but no, I don't think I am." Evil, to him, meant no feelings of love, or care or compassion. He felt all of those emotions; albeit reserved for very few people.  
"Is Damon?" He was expecting it before she even asked because let's face it- that was the question she really wanted the answer to.

"No." This time the reaction was instantaneous; she supposed she should've taken some kind of solace in that but all she thought about were his cold, soulless eyes when he changed into his vampire form. "How do you know?"

"I'm not going to presume to know anything about your relationship with him, but he didn't lie about that… Everything you shared with him was real… _is _real." He amended.

She shook her head, "If that were true, he'd be here… not you."

Well, he had nothing to say to that.

…

The sun was beginning to set across the horizon, bleeding red into the sky. Damon watched as teenagers hurried home from school, the very essence of youth seemed to scream out at him, mocking him. A chill swept the air; he could smell the warm humidity of rainfall that was sure to come. He was never one for people watching but there was something oddly calming about gazing at passers-by as they walked by, completely oblivious. It, for the moment at least, detached him from his own mess of a life. He was so caught up in his new found hobby that it took him a couple of moments to notice that someone had joined him at the bench he sat on in the town's main square. He didn't have to look at his new companion to know who it was. Grey seemed to have a distinct smell unique to him, one consisting of fresh blood as if he had just carried out a recent kill, pine and sea salt like he had just taken a walk along a beach, (of course Mystic Falls was miles from any shore or coastline). But whether it was his friends scent or just the sense that he was there, he knew it was Grey.

"Any chance a game of _Reader_ might cheer you up?" Damon turned for the first time to the left to look at his friend. His elbows were on his knees as he hunched forwards, chin resting on his roughened knuckles. He was turned to face Damon, his expression wry. He clucked his tongue when Damon, unsurprisingly, didn't reply, "Worth a try I guess."

Damon figured he might as well get the ball rolling on the inevitable turn the conversation would take "'I told you so' isn't really your style so I might as well tell you that you were right. I-"

Grey shook his head and raised a dismissive hand, "It doesn't matter what I said." Grey observed his friend with a clinical interest.

"So what should I do?" Damon sighed tiredly.

Grey smiled, as if he had seen the question coming and truthfully, he had. "It doesn't matter what I say- you won't listen. And besides, I'm not here to play therapist with you."

"No? Everyone else seems to be taking on that role today…" Damon mused, still half-expecting Grey to do the same. "No zen words on my love life?"

"Do you love her?"

Damon's blue orbs widened in surprise. "I…" He didn't know how to answer. Nobody had asked him that question. He wasn't even sure if he had asked himself. But then he figured it wasn't really a question you asked yourself. It was just something you knew. So maybe there was his answer.

He didn't know what to say and Grey realized almost as soon as he asked the question, "I didn't really ask you that when you asked me what you should do about telling her. I should've." He said wistfully. "Because none of this really matters if you don't love her."

"I haven't loved anyone since…"  
"Katherine." Grey finished. The name felt like poison to Damon's ears. He didn't even know why he had said it. He had thought once that Katherine was his mirrored self. That they belonged together. But now, looking back, it seemed like the foolish romanticisms of someone who really should've known better. "Well, it's definitely hard for anybody to compete with the ghost of a calculating, manipulative bitch who was also sleeping with your brother."

Damon shook his head, "Sarcasm is my thing- you don't do it nearly as well." His friend turned to him, offering a look that cut straight through him, telling him that he wasn't going to bite. Using humour to deflect conversation wouldn't work on him. Finally Damon relented, "Peyton's nothing like Katherine."

"I noticed."

"She's guarded and sarcastic and vulnerable." Even if she didn't let anyone see that vulnerability, he thought to himself silently.

"She's you." Grey nodded.

"She's human." The weight of the words; the way he delivered the, made them feel like a death sentence, shocking any reply Grey might've had. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Grey looked at Damon again, watching as he stared off into the distance, lost in his own thoughts. He had never seen his friend look so tortured- his expression was pained as if he were recalling a devastating memory. This was Damon who didn't put his emotions on display. They were normally hidden behind a face whose default was mild disinterest. For a brief moment he considered lying, offering cheap reassurances with assertions that he had made the right decision in telling Peyton the truth. But it wasn't in his nature. Brutal honesty was what came more naturally; the words might sting but at least they were truth. Before a word left his mouth though, it seemed Damon was broken out of his reverie as if he suddenly remembered something, "You haven't told me what she said." Confusion melted from his features as Damon expanded, "You spoke to her, right?"

"Does it matter what she said to me? It wasn't me she wanted to see at her door."

Damon laughed, a noise that startled the Australian, "I highly doubt she wanted me at her door either."

"Why does it matter so much that you're a vampire and she's not? It doesn't change anything. It's just…. Semantics."

This earned a quirk of an eyebrow, as if to say 'I believe that as much as you do.' Grey sighed in exasperation. This was more than just fear about her reaction. He seemed sad. Even worse, though, was his surrender to the situation. "What aren't you telling me? This can't just be because you're scared about how she's going to react."

The question surprised Damon almost as much as Grey asking if he was in love with Peyton. He supposed that maybe that was why he answered. "The only way that we would work is if I turned her." That was a fact. "I would never do that." A vow he had made to himself. "And I know she would never want that." An undeniable truth.

Grey frowned. "Why do you have to think about forever?"

"Because I'm immortal. And she's not." He stated blankly.

"So?"

"The second I told her what I am I stamped an expiry date on us." Of course, what he had meant to say was that he had only really renewed the expiry date that was already there. Because he knew since she came to his house claiming she knew he was hiding something from her that their relationship had become a ticking clock. And every time he was with her it was as if he could hear the hands of a clock turning, informing him that it wouldn't be long before their time was up. All he had done was extended something that was doomed to end. Nothing is permanent.

Grey nodded his head slowly, finally understanding, "Maybe you're right."

"I _am _right." Damon asserted.

"And maybe this relationship is doomed to end." Grey carried on bluntly, as if he hadn't heard Damon. "but you owe her an explanation at the least. If you… care about her as much as I know you do, then she deserves that from you."

Damon sighed; here was the lecture that he had been expecting. "You sound like Stefan."

Grey shrugged. "Well, when me and your brother agree on something maybe there might actually be some truth behind it." Grey leaned back against the bench, relaxing slightly, "It's your onus."

Damon's heavy eyes closed shut as he repeated, "Onus."

…

This was normal. She told herself this as she walked down the sidewalk, making her way to meet her friends. She had always prided herself on being independent, fearless. She wasn't going to be scared of leaving her house. Not anymore. She was done hiding. So when Caroline asked if she wanted to meet her, she decided she would. It was what a normal person would've done. She was done being scared. Damon didn't want to talk? That was fine, because right now, she didn't want to hear anything he had to say. Somehow, any fear she had was slowly being replaced by anger. Stefan had tried ringing her; hell even Grey (who she barely knew or liked) had come to see her, but Damon suddenly dropped off the face of the earth. Not one phone call.

The more she thought about it, the more she was seething. She knew after what she saw yesterday, a face that was painted into her memory, she should be scared, terrified even. But all she thought about was him and how she knew him. About how he lied to her. And now had apparently decided she wasn't even worth a damn phone call. She was so caught up in her own angry thoughts she barely noticed a dark figure emerge from the shadows to step in front of her.

She suddenly halted as her heart took off racing. She looked up and found herself staring into the blue eyes of someone whose face was taking over every thought she possessed. She opened her mouth to speak, but her throat felt thick and words wouldn't come out.

No, she couldn't think of anything to say but that was ok, because apparently he could.

"We should talk."

* * *

**Authors Note: So it finally happened- he told her! Veryyy long awaited moment. Sorry for being so terrible with updating (and always apologizing for it!) and thanks to everyone for sticking with the story! Reviews are always appreciated! **


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